Play Against Danger
by Sapphire5
Summary: Finished. Series. Installment #6.
1. Reunion

Disclaimer: All characters affiliated with JQ: TRA are owned by Hanna Barbara. No infringement of copyrights is intended. This is a work of fiction written by a fan for other fans' enjoyment. No money was made off of this fic.

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Warnings: Overall Rating of T. Contains mild language, some mature themes, and some violence. (Honestly, there isn't anything worse than what you might find in a Nancy Drew or Hardy Boys mystery.)

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A Note From the Author: 2-14-2020 Sixth in a series, this story follows "Day of Reckoning." The Author's Note in "Industry of Intrigue" applies to the entire series, but I would also like to share a few things on this specific installment. You are about to read the fifth version of this story. Yep. Fifth. The main plot hasn't had any drastic changes between revisions, but a lot of the rest of it has, including the title! I've taken out characters, added characters, exchanged characters… both good guys and bad guys. I finally hit on the right combination a few years ago, but it took me a while to finish this last revision. Other projects were more appealing than revising this… Again.

This story reunites Jessie and Maggie with Blain, Ryan, and Scott, three of the guys they met on their ill-fated trip in "Continental Divide." Not Mick. I cut him out because he kept messing up the story lines. Don't worry, though. I didn't off him. I don't do that sort of thing unnecessarily. I did, however, have the annoying tendency to type "Scoot" instead of "Scott" for whatever reason. This story has been edited, but if you find a "Scoot" somewhere in there that I missed, you have my permission to laugh. Then message me where you found it so I can laugh, too! ~Sapphire

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The Real Adventures of Jonny Quest

Play Against Danger

By: Sapphire

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Chapter One: Reunion

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…...

January 2001

Location: Kings Mountain, Vermont

Wednesday

The snow was softly falling late Wednesday afternoon just after the New Year. The silver minivan with the Quest Enterprises logo on the side pulled up to the Kings Mountain Lodge, loaded with passengers and ski equipment. Dr. Quest and Race had practically chased them out of the house, telling them they needed the break after the whole fiasco with the Wraith Prototype in November and all the fallout that came after. The kids had reluctantly agreed to go, especially since Dr. Quest and Race were headed for Chicago anyway. Now that they were here, they were excited for the ski weekend they'd come for.

It was a good thing Hadji had driven, Jonny thought to himself. If he'd been driving, they'd have ended up in the ditch long ago, caused by Jessie and Maggie's excited- and very distracting- chatter they'd kept up the whole drive.

The moment they entered the warm lobby, Jonny found a little out of the way corner to dump his bags and ski equipment. The others, just as heavily laden with belongings, did likewise. "I hope they have bell hops," Jonny said, wearily eyeing the large pile of bags on the floor. Hadji raised an eyebrow as he added his own things to the pile.

"I think now would be a good time to check in," Jessie said quietly to Maggie, taking her arm and pulling her toward the lobby's main desk, "before Jonny figures out there are no bell hops and disappears." Maggie nodded knowingly, walking quickly at Jessie's side.

Jonny looked around the cozy lobby area, taking in the three stone fireplaces, all with fires blazing in the hearths and a comfortable seating arrangement in front of it. He wondered if any of the people scattered among them were the people they had come to Vermont to meet. The trip had been the suggestion of Ryan Walters, one of the four young men the girls had met and rescued in Montana the summer before. They had kept in contact and Jessie and Maggie were looking forward to the reunion. Jonny was relieved to finally have the chance to meet the guys he'd been hearing about non-stop since July.

"Your rooms are 201 and 203," Jonny heard the clerk say. "Here are your key cards, two for each room." Maggie said as she took the four keycards. "You may pick up your lift passes in the morning," the clerk finished.

"Thank you," Jessie said as she and Maggie turned away from the desk.

"Jessie! Maggie!" The girls looked up. Coming down the main stairs opposite the front desk were three familiar faces, one waving excitedly.

"Hi guys!" Jessie called as she and Maggie went to meet them at the bottom of the stairs.

"Interesting," Jonny commented under his breath to Hadji, noting the way Maggie's face lit up as the tallest of the three, a blonde, caught her in an exuberant hug. Both of them, especially Jonny, had been keeping a meticulous eye on their cousin since Thanksgiving. This was the happiest she'd looked in two months.

"Scott!" Maggie returned the embrace with equal enthusiasm.

"Indeed," Hadji agreed quietly, observing the scene.

"Group hug!" one of the other two guys called jokingly, catching Jessie as they converged on Scott and Maggie. There was a great deal of laughing.

"Maggie seems pretty relaxed around them," Jonny noted. "I'm kinda surprised. She doesn't trust people easily."

"I do not think I am wrong to say the three of them earned her trust last summer," Hadji reminded. Jonny nodded in agreement.

"Guys, meet my cousins, Jonny Quest and Hadji Singh," Maggie said, signaling out the two, who had been hanging back while the girls made their greetings. "Jonny, Hadji, these three are Scott Larsen and Blain and Ryan Walters," Maggie introduced, indicating each in turn, a round of friendly handshakes ensuing.

"Where's Mick? Didn't he come?" Jessie asked, glancing around the lobby as the introductions and greetings came to an end.

"He couldn't make it," Blain said with a shake of his head. "He found out New Year's Eve that he landed the internship he really wanted. He even had to cut his trip home to Australia short. His new girlfriend wasn't happy," he laughed.

"I was looking forward to having all of us together," Maggie sighed sadly.

"Me, too," Jessie agreed. "I was planning to order oatmeal for breakfast." Jonny gave her an odd look. Oatmeal? What was she talking about?

"Porridge," four voices corrected, laughing.

"He's sorry he had to miss this," Ryan assured the girls, slipping an arm around Jessie's shoulders, giving her a consoling squeeze before letting go. Jonny's eyes narrowed at that. Had he just… put the moves on Jessie? And she hadn't said anything? For some reason, that bothered Jonny. He just wasn't sure why.

"Hey, Maggie," Blain said, "want help hauling all your gear up to your rooms?" She nodded her head enthusiastically.

"That would be great," Jessie said eagerly. "Now Jonny won't care there aren't any bell hops." Jonny turned to Jessie.

"There aren't any bell hops?" he asked. "If there aren't any bell hops, then why didn't you say so? I'd have -"

"Wormed your way out of hauling gear. I know, I know," Jessie said. "But the point is moot now, isn't it?" Jonny had to agree as everyone picked up a bag or two and headed for the wide, rustic staircase leading to the guestrooms.

"Are you all right, Jonny?" Hadji asked quietly.

"Sure, Hadj. Why wouldn't I be?" Hadji just shook his head. Jonny couldn't fool him. They'd known each other too long for that. Hadji watched Jonny for a long moment, then joined the others in hauling the gear up the stairs.

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…...

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"That goes into the girls' room," Jonny directed Scott. Scott headed into room 203 through the connecting door with a bag full of ski equipment. He dumped it unceremoniously on top of the heap that was already in the corner.

"Need any help?" Scott asked, watching them busily move about the room.

"I think I'm good," Jessie said, hanging her ski jacket on a hanger in the closet by the door. Scott nodded and watched Maggie walk by on her way back from putting some things in the bathroom, pushing up the sleeves of her powder blue sweater. He immediately noticed the four pale-pink parallel lines on the inside of her left arm as she did.

"Hey, how did that heal?" he asked, catching Maggie's eye. She noticed the direction of his gaze, and pulled her sleeve farther up, taking a seat on the end of the nearest bed where Scott sat down beside her.

"It's still pink," Maggie told him. "The doctor says it'll look like that for a while. It'll fade, though I'll have the scar forever."

"You're lucky," Scott commented, "It's not raised." He brushed his fingertips over her scarred skin as he spoke. Maggie was suddenly aware of how close he was. Not sure how she felt about that, she pushed her sleeve down and stood up, going to the sliding glass door to put some distance between them. She unlocked the door and pulled it open, stepping out on the narrow, snowy balcony.

"This is such a pretty view," she said, standing at the railing. Scott stepped out behind her.

"It's better than our view," Scott agreed, standing at the railing beside her, careful to leave a few inches between them. She instantly relaxed. He understood then that things hadn't really changed since July. Maggie was still hung up on that other guy. Between the back and forth e-mails he'd been exchanging with Maggie and Jessie, and from what Ryan had said after meeting up with Maggie briefly at Thanksgiving, Scott had a good idea who the other guy was. He just wasn't sure what he was going to do with that knowledge, if he did anything at all. He'd have to wait and see.

"You know," Maggie said, "the last few days I've had the strangest feeling we should have planned a weekend at a beach somewhere."

"Why is that?" Scott asked curiously.

"Because the last time we were all together on a mountain, it turned into a survival trip," Maggie said with a faint smile. Scott laughed.

"You aren't the only one who's thought that," he admitted, "but it's too late to change our minds now."

"Then we'll just have to keep our fingers crossed that history doesn't repeat," Maggie said, smiling.

"You got it," Scott agreed, holding up a hand and crossing his fingers, making her laugh.

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…...

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After dinner, they laid claim to one of the fireplaces in the lobby. "We need marshmallows," Jonny said, sitting on the rug in front of a roaring fire.

"Why don't you see if a bell-hop can get you some?" Jessie teased. Jonny glared at her. Then he glared at Ryan for good measure. Jonny didn't dislike Ryan- the guy was actually pretty cool- but he was definitely flirting with Jessie, and she was flirting back. This was a side of his best friend he'd never seen, and he didn't really like it, though he couldn't fathom why. Scott was doing his fair share of flirting with Maggie, and while Jonny was watching them closely, it didn't bother him in the same way.

"Children, children," Blain chastised mockingly. "Settle down. I'm sure we can find some puffy sugar balls for you to scorch."

"Not a fan, huh?" Jonny asked. Blain laughed and shook his head.

"Can't stand the stuff," he said. "But if it'll keep the peace, I'll go procure us some." Jonny nodded, then turned and flashed Jessie a triumphant grin. It was lost on her. She was too absorbed in a conversation with Ryan to notice. Jonny's mood turned sour at the way their heads tilted toward each other as they talked, even when Scott, Maggie, and Hadji joined their conversation. At least until Blain returned with the marshmallows. Then it sweetened a bit.

"…El Capitan," Jonny caught the end of whatever Scott had said.

"El Capitan, in Yosemite?" Jonny asked, his interest piqued, skewering a marshmallow on a toasting fork.

"Yeah," Ryan said. "Scott and I went climbing there in June, before the Montana trip where we met the girls. You ever been?" he was curious.

"That place is fantastic," Jonny said, his ire instantly forgotten. "We mostly climb at Acadia, but Jess, Hadji and I were out there two summers ago…"

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…...

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Jonny was staring at a book, not reading, though he was trying for all the world to look like he was. Hadji sighed to himself and turned to stare out the window at the snow falling outside. Admittedly, he'd seen this coming a long time ago, but that didn't mean he was ready to deal with it. Things at home were touchy enough as it was. The fallout after Thanksgiving hadn't all been about the Wraith 3 prototype, after all. When Price brought home a fiancé, he'd broken Maggie's heart. When Maggie had started dating after the initial uproar over the Wraith 3 prototype died down, it was Price who had acted like the one with the broken heart. This weekend away was supposed to be a reprieve from that kind of drama. Hadji glanced in Jonny's direction. He wasn't exactly sure of his brother's state of mind, but Hadji definitely saw signs that he might be out of luck.

Jonny, barely aware of the book in his hands, gave a cursory attempt to read the pages, but thoughts of Jessie and Ryan intruded. Not that he cared what Jessie did, or with whom. It was just so… weird. For some reason, he couldn't let it go. With a disgusted sigh, Jonny tossed the book onto the bedside table and got up off of bed. Maybe a shower would help clear his head. Crossing in front of the window, he momentarily blocked Hadji's view, earning an irritated look from Hadji.

With a crash, glass came flying at him, biting into the flesh of his shoulder and face and arms as he threw his hands up to try and protect himself, ducking into a crouch against the wall under the window at the same time. Glass rained down on him for a few moments before stopping. Still leaning against the wall, his thoughts were reeling. What the hell had happened?

"Are you all right, Jonny?" Hadji asked, already on his feet.

"I'm not hurt too bad," Jonny said, taking quick stock of his injuries then slowly started picking his way toward Hadji across the glass-strewn floor. As soon as Jonny cleared the glass, Hadji grabbed him and made him sit on the side of the bed, away from the glass and cold draught from the broken window.

"Hey!" They both recognized Jessie's voice, accompanied by rigorous pounding on the closed connecting door. "What's going on in there?"

"Let her in," Jonny said with a wave. "I'll be all right for the minute it takes to open the door." Hadji nodded, crossing the room to the door to admit both Jessie and Maggie.

"What happened to you?" Maggie asked, peering past Jessie, looking at the broken window and then at Jonny, who was bleeding from various cuts.

"We heard a crash," Jessie said, stepping past Hadji into the room. "What did you do this time, Hot Shot?" she asked.

"Nothing!" Jonny denied, rolling his eyes.

"Let's see the damage," Jessie sighed, walking toward him. Suddenly Jonny was off the bed. He caught Jessie around the waist and dragged her to the floor. "What-?"

"Get down," Jonny ordered, his eyes locked on a spot on the wall opposite the window. Everyone looked to see what was so important. It wasn't a spot. It was a hole. A bullet hole. Hadji and Maggie were on the floor in an instant.

"Someone shot at you," Maggie breathed. Jonny just nodded. Even with the bullet-hole in the wall it was a little hard to believe. Who did it? And why?

"Jonny, you're bleeding," Jessie said, wiggling out of his grasp. Jonny suddenly realized he was still holding onto her, and let go. He watched her shrug out of her cotton robe and wad it up into a makeshift compress, pressing it tightly to the heavily bleeding wound on his shoulder. "The glass sliced right through your shirt." Jonny winced as she applied pressure to the wound to slow the bleeding.

"Maggie," Hadji said, catching her attention. "I think it would be a good idea for us to take a look around outside."

"Let's go," Maggie agreed, following him to the door, grabbing Jonny's ski jacket while Hadji grabbed his own. She paused for a moment and looked back. "I'll have the infirmary doctor sent up," she told Jessie. "We'll make up some story about a snowball coming through the window." Jonny and Jessie both nodded.

"Be careful," Jessie cautioned. Maggie nodded, then she and Hadji were gone. She stood, hands on her hips, starting at the window. "We're sitting ducks. Anyone can see in," she said. "I want to close the drapes, but we need to leave them open for Hadji and Maggie." She was shivering in her light cotton tank top and pajama pants as cold air wafted over them from the broken window.

"Here," Jonny said, reaching across his bed to grab the grey sweater he'd been wearing earlier and handed it to Jessie. She pulled it on quickly. "Better?" he asked.

"Yeah, thanks," she said, hugging it around herself as she slowly warmed. Her gaze was on him, and Jonny wondered what she was thinking behind those green eyes of hers. "Let's get you cleaned up a little," Jessie suggested, "find out how much damage the broken glass did." Jonny nodded. They made their way into the bathroom where Jonny sat down heavily on the closed toilet lid.

Jessie removed the makeshift compress and helped him off with his shirt. She grabbed a wash cloth off the rack and wet it in the sink with warm water and began to wash away the blood on his face, arms, and shoulders. She made quick work of it.

"This one cut on your shoulder is the worst," she finally pronounced.

"How does it look?" Jonny asked, trying to see the bleeding cut on the back of his shoulder for himself.

"I think you might need stitches," Jessie answered, folding a clean, damp towel and pressing it against his shoulder. "The rest should be fine with an adhesive bandage." She let Jonny apply pressure to the wound and hold the compress in place himself while she reached out the bathroom door for his duffel bag which she'd seen in the closet area by the main door. "Happen to have any bandages in your bag?"

"Maybe a couple. I usually do," Jonny said. "Jess?" he asked after watching her rifle through the bag for a minute, "do you think-" but he didn't get any farther. The sound of a key card in the electronic lock interrupted.

"Damn," they heard a muttered oath from the other side, accompanied by the low electronic tone meaning the key card had failed. The voice was not Maggie's or Hadji's. Jonny and Jessie were both at the door in a moment. Jonny stood against the back of the door, holding it closed with his body weight. Jessie leaned against the door next to him, holding the handle firmly in her grasp as they listened to the sound of the key card sliding into the electronic lock again. This time they heard the faint tone that meant the card had been accepted. Jessie's knuckles were turning white she held the handle so tight.

"What the hell?" they heard the person on the other side hiss quietly. Jessie held tighter to the handle as he- because the voice definitely belonged to a man- tried desperately to turn the handle. Jessie's death grip didn't allow it to turn at all. "Crap," the man swore. Jessie and Jonny could hear laughter echoing up the hall. Their would-be intruder suddenly fled, about to be discovered by unsuspecting lodge guests. They heard his footsteps retreating, though they quickly faded in the carpeted hallway. A minute later, the laughing guests were entering their room just a few doors down from theirs. Jonny's and Jessie's gazes met.

"That was close," Jonny said.

"Yeah," Jessie agreed, prying her stiff fingers off the door handle. She turned the deadbolt, just in case.

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"I wish I'd stopped to grab my boots," Maggie hissed as she and Hadji made their way along the snowy path outside the lodge. "These slippers are already soaked and my feet are freezing! At least I borrowed Jonny's jacket."

"We are almost there," Hadji whispered sympathetically. He held up his hand, motioning Maggie to slow down as they approached the portion of the path that led under their windows. Silently they moved along the path, hugging the edge along the shrubbery, trying to keep out of sight.

"The bullet had to come from somewhere over there," Maggie whispered next to Hadji's ear. He nodded, and they moved forward together slowly and cautiously. They had nearly reached the boys' window when they came across a narrow footpath cut through the hedge. On closer examination, under the branches where the falling snow didn't touch, they could see fresh footprints. "Are we going in?" Hadji nodded in the affirmative.

The hedge was not very thick, and even Hadji managed to squeeze through without disturbing the fresh snow clinging to the branches. Maggie knew Hadji had to be thinking along the same lines she was. Anyone could have slipped through here. They followed the foot path single file until it opened onto a wider path through a wooded area that they could see at a glance would join up with the main path roughly twenty yards farther ahead. Any footprints the perpetrator might have made had already been obliterated by the falling snow. Hadji turned around and looked up at the window of his and Jonny's room.

"This could be the place," Hadji whispered, moving backward until the room beyond the broken window came into clear view. "Yes. Start searching for signs." Maggie nodded and they spread out a little to take a careful look around. Hadji found it first. A little spot behind an evergreen bough. Where the bough protected the ground from the heaviest of the fresh falling snow, there were footprints. The footprints matched the ones they'd seen under the hedge.

"Whoever it was, they were here," Hadji said in a hushed tone. "A perfect sight line into the room. You can even see the chair where I was sitting." Maggie came over and looked.

"Definitely deliberate," she said, looking up into the boys' room through the broken window. She turned her gaze downward and started looking around. "No way we'll find a shell casing in this snow."

"Not likely," Hadji agreed, continuing to look around. "Whoever he was, he is gone."

"Come on, Hadji," Maggie said with a sigh. "Let's go back inside and find the infirmary doctor." Hadji nodded, and they headed back along the path toward the main entrance.

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"Thanks," Scott said, taking the toothbrush from the night clerk at the front desk. When he turned to head back upstairs to his room, he saw Maggie and Hadji hurrying across the lobby and up the steps with a middle-aged man following. "What the heck?" he muttered to himself, wondering what had them in such a hurry they passed right by without noticing him. He quickly raced after them.

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When they heard the sound of footsteps outside their door, Jonny and Jessie readied themselves, listening intently, afraid the intruder had returned. They were prepared to hold the door closed again, if necessary. They didn't have to.

"It's so quiet in there," they heard Maggie's voice from the other side of the door. "Hurry up, Hadji." Jessie sagged against the doorframe with relief. Jonny put a hand on her shoulder, echoing her sentiment with a sigh. Jessie unlocked the deadbolt, then she and Jonny moved back into the doorway of the bathroom to get out of the way. A moment later, the door was open and Hadji and Maggie were walking into the room. To their surprise, the two had in tow not only a middle-aged man they presumed was the doctor, but also Scott, bringing up the rear.

"Scott?" Jessie asked, looking from him, then to Maggie with a questioning look.

"What?" Maggie turned around. "What are you doing here?" she asked, surprised.

"I was in the lobby asking the desk clerk for a toothbrush when I saw you running up here with that guy," he said, pointing to the doctor. "I was curious, so I followed you." He looked at the girls questioningly.

"Jonny got hurt," Maggie explained before turning back to her cousin. "Jonny, you look pretty cut up."

"They're mostly just scratches," Jonny said as she gave him a once over, inspecting the few visible cuts on his face and neck.

"There's a cut on his shoulder that might need stitches," Jessie added.

"This is Dr. Mansfield," Hadji introduced.

"Let's take a look at that shoulder, young man," Dr. Mansfield said. Jonny nodded, stepping back into the bathroom. Jessie stayed at the door, letting Dr. Mansfield in. He instructed Jonny to sit on the closed toilet while he washed his hands thoroughly at the sink. He took some surgical gloves from his bag and put them on, then checked over Jonny's other cuts before focusing on the larger wound on his shoulder. "Three stitches ought to close that up nicely," Dr. Mansfield pronounced, rummaging in his bag for the appropriate supplies. "I can take care of that right here, if you like."

"Yeah," Jonny agreed. "The sooner the better. Then I can get some sleep."

"We'll arrange for another room for you as soon as we're done with this. You can't stay in a room with a broken window," Dr. Mansfield said, shooing everyone else out of the bathroom. "You kids pack up your things in the meantime," he said, closing the door.

"Stay here out of sight of the window," Maggie whispered to Scott as she, Hadji, and Jessie moved quickly to gather up all the boys' belongings.

"Window?" Scott echoed, confused, but his question went unanswered.

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Race was definitely not happy at learning one of the family had been shot at. He had immediately ordered the kids to pack up their stuff and come home. They, of course, protested loudly. Race settled for having them set up in a private suite, the kind they reserved for high-profile guests, with extra security features- including bullet-proof glass on the windows. They were to go home immediately if anything else happened.

Despite the hassle of moving all their belongings, the kids were actually happy about the new accommodations. Jessie and Maggie got the master bedroom with a king sized bed to share and a private bathroom with a whirlpool tub that filled from a faucet on the _ceiling_. Jonny and Hadji were sharing the loft which had two double beds. The suite also had a private kitchenette and dining area, and a rather large living area with a stone fireplace where they settled in tiredly around the cold hearth.

"So, what did you find?" Jonny asked, not beating around the bush, looking pointedly at Hadji, then Maggie. "Or was what you told Race the truth?"

"We told the truth," Hadji replied. "We learned precisely two things. One, it could have been anyone, and two, it was not random." Maggie nodded, confirming what he said.

"We found where the shooter hid, but there's no way to tell where he went with fresh snow coming down," she said with a shake of her head.

"I suspect the shooter was using a silencer," Hadji observed. "The gunshot did not raise attention outside our room." Jonny nodded. He'd guessed as much.

"Jonny was shot?" Four pairs of eyes were suddenly focused on Scott. They had actually forgotten he was there. "I've been dying to ask, but held back."

"Shot _at_," Jonny corrected, exchanging a wary gaze with Hadji, then Jessie, then Maggie. "A bullet came through the window," he explained. "All the damage was from the broken glass."

"Who would shoot at you?" Scott asked. He could feel the building tension his question caused. He didn't miss the pointed looks being exchanged, either.

"There are a few possibilities," Hadji answered slowly with a shrug. "It is impossible to say when we know so little." Jonny wandered over to the glass doors leading to the terrace balcony.

"Don't go out there," Jessie cautioned, stopping him as he reached for the door handle. "My dad said not to go out on the balcony. Stay away from the windows, too, even though they're _bullet-proof_." Jessie rolled her eyes at the last. Jonny's hand dropped.

"Maybe we should get some sleep," Jonny said, running a hand through his messy blond hair. "We can talk about this in the morning." His gaze found Scott and he sighed.

"Uh…" Scott said, taken aback, when he realized all four pairs of eyes were on him again. "Don't you think Ryan and Blain and I ought to know what's going on?" Suddenly the attention in the room shifted to Maggie and Jessie who were exchanging loaded glances.

"Your call," Jonny told the girls with a huge yawn. Hadji nodded agreement.

"I'll take this," Maggie volunteered. Jessie nodded. Then Scott realized Maggie was looking expectantly at him. "Can I talk to you for a little while?" she asked.

"Sure," he agreed with a nod.

"Let's go down to the lobby," Maggie suggested. Scott nodded as she took his arm and led him to the door.

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To be continued…

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	2. Duck and Weave

Disclaimer: Please see chapter one.

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Warnings: Overall Rating of T.

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A Note From the Author: Thank-you for reading! ~Sapphire

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The Real Adventures of Jonny Quest

Play Against Danger

By: Sapphire

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Chapter Two: Duck and Weave

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Location: Kings Mountain, Vermont

Late Wednesday Night

Down in the lobby, Maggie led Scott to one of the unclaimed fireplaces that still had a pile of glowing embers on the hearth. Scott pulled two wingback chairs close. Maggie sat while he played around with firewood from the box nearby and rekindled a small fire from the glowing coals, tending it with care until it was burning steadily.

"You've seen trouble like this before, haven't you?" Scott asked, settling into the wingback chair opposite Maggie.

"How did you know?" she asked with a little nod.

"Educated guess," Scott returned. Maggie shot him a look that clearly indicated his answer was unsatisfactory. "There was no freaking out, calling the police, or throwing a fuss," Scott said archly. "The four of you had more of a 'here we go again' attitude."

"You're very perceptive, did you know that?" Maggie said with a sigh.

"You aren't the only one who's ever said so," Scott said with a shrug. Then he turned more serious. "What happened tonight, it bothered you more than the others, didn't it? You aren't as used to it, are you?" he asked.

"How did you know?" Maggie asked again.

"Aren't you the one who just finished telling me I was perceptive?" Scott countered. Maggie stared at him speechlessly for a moment, then sighed again. This certainly wasn't the first time she'd noted how observant and astute he could be.

"You're right. Situations like this are newer to me than to them, but when it comes to enemies," Maggie explained slowly, "I have mine, too, though they're more… inherited, rather than earned." Scott's eyebrows rose dubiously. "Look, this is a _very_ touchy subject. I've told you more than I should. You, Ryan, and Blain shouldn't get mixed up in this."

"That's harsh," Scott said coolly. "Don't you trust us?"

"I trust you with my life," Maggie said honestly.

"But you won't tell me what's going on," Scott shot back, frustrated.

"It's not that I won't," Maggie corrected. "I _can't_ tell you." Despite her earnestness, Scott stood up to leave, tossing an angry glare at Maggie. She jumped up out of her chair and grabbed his arm to stop him. "I honestly don't know what this was all about tonight," she said. "What I do know is, my family's secrets are dangerous, Scott," Maggie persisted. "I don't want to see you hurt- or worse."

"You're trying to protect me?" Scott asked, turning to face her once again, his eyes searching her face.

"Of course I am," Maggie said immediately and with conviction. "I couldn't live with myself if something happened to you." Whatever Scott was looking for, he apparently found it. He pulled Maggie close, wrapping his arms protectively around her, and sighed. Maggie leaned into him, resting her head against his shoulder for a long time. It was so easy to lean on him, just like it had been in Montana.

"I want to keep you safe, too," Scott said after a while. "All of you would be safer with three extra pairs of eyes watching for trouble. We all made a pretty good team last summer, you have to admit."

"We did," Maggie agreed, "but this is so, so different."

"Can I ask one thing?" Scott wanted to know.

"Depends on what it is," Maggie replied hesitantly.

"Are Ryan, Blain, and I likely to get caught up in whatever this is by association?" Scott asked. Maggie took in a deep, slow breath and then let it out equally slowly as she considered.

"I don't know," she said. She looked up at him contemplatively. "It's possible."

"Maggie," he started.

"I know what you're going to say," Maggie stopped him, pulling away. "Blain and Ryan need to know." Scott nodded. "Okay. Let's go tell them."

"What? Just like that?" Scott was surprised.

"I told you I trusted you guys with my life," Maggie said. "Now I'm going to trust you with my family's lives and-" she paused and met his gaze. "I need to tell them because all of you trust me with yours." Scott pulled her into a hug.

"In the morning," he said. "I'll bring them up to the suite first thing. That's soon enough. Besides, they'll want to hear it from Jessie, too."

"Okay," Maggie agreed, leaning into him once again. They didn't say anything else. After a few more minutes they reluctantly pulled apart. Scott walked Maggie back to the suite before heading to his own room.

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…...

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Scott showed up with Blain and Ryan bright and early. As promised. Jessie let them into the suite, then invited them to sit down in the living area where Jonny, Maggie, and Hadji were waiting. There were a lot of questioning looks before anyone spoke.

"So," Ryan said, looking around the room. "Nice room. Why the upgrade?"

"That's why we need to talk," Maggie replied. She took a deep breath. "There was some trouble last night. We're not sure what's going on, but you might be accidentally right in the middle of it."

"Someone took a shot at us through our window last night," Jonny said. "Lousy aim. They missed us, but the broken glass from the window got me."

"What?" Blain asked, floored. Ryan just stared at him, speechless. "Who would want to shoot you?"

"That," Hadji said, "is a very good question."

"Our family is a magnet for trouble," Jonny said. "Dad is a famous inventor and scientist. He managed to make some enemies over the years." He shrugged.

"My dad has enemies, too," Jessie added. "You've met him. I don't think you'd be surprised to know he used to work in government intelligence. I-One." Jessie shrugged, an exact copy of Jonny's.

"My mom was CIA," Maggie put in. "She never intended her work to involve her family, but it did. Still does."

"Take your pick," Jessie finished.

"So, stuff like this has happened to you before?" Blain asked.

"More often than we'd like," Jessie confirmed.

"It explains why Maggie and Jessie were so quick to help us last summer," Ryan added thoughtfully. "They've probably had experience in situations like that."

"Not exactly like that," Jessie said with a sigh.

"We have found we need to always be prepared for any eventuality," Hadji said.

"So," Ryan asked matter-of-factly after a moment of awkward silence, "what are we going to do about this latest little situation?" Jessie grinned. It appeared this wasn't going to be the end of their ski weekend.

"You are sure you wish to continue this ski trip?" Hadji asked. "There is no telling what trouble could be brewing."

"I'm staying," Scott said firmly.

"Me, too," Ryan added.

"Count me in," Blain finished. "We owe you one for Montana, in the very least."

"I hope none of us come to regret this," Hadji said with a shake of his head."

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…...

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Bright morning sun glistened on the fresh powder of the ski slopes. Blain and Maggie took a deep breath of the fresh, crisp mountain air before clipping their boots into the bindings of their skis. They followed the rest of their group to the chair lift, making sure their lift passes were clipped visibly to their ski jackets. They could hear the gears grinding in the lift house beside the chair lift as they were scooped up into the chair.

"Which should we do first?" Blain asked. "The south face, or the east?"

"South," Maggie said, consulting the guide printed on the back of her lift pass. "The south face runs should be easy enough for me to ski."

"Hey Maggie," Jonny called from the chair behind them as they took turns getting off the lift. "Heading for the bunny hill?" Maggie rolled her eyes.

"I'm not that bad," Maggie informed Ryan who was snickering at her.

"Let's take the Lower South run- the LS. What do you think?" Blain suggested, looking at the back of his own ski pass.

"I'm game," Maggie said. "But I'm warning you, I'm slow. I just learned to ski last winter, and this is my first time out this season."

"Not a problem," Blain said with a shrug. "I'll just see you at the bottom!" Ryan gave his cousin a good-natured shove that landed Blain in the snow on his rear. "Hey, you were laughing, too," Blain grumbled from the ground. Ryan gave his cousin a hand-up. Once they reached the top of the run, the group of seven took off down the slope. When Maggie finally came out at the bottom of the south face, Blain was just behind her, finishing his second run.

"Hope you don't mind that no one waited for you," Blain said as he came up to Maggie with a swoosh of snow.

"Nah," Maggie said with a wave. "I fell a lot anyway. I'm just surprised you aren't on your third run." Blain laughed. "Jonny and Jessie are," Blain informed her with a smirk.

"I know," Maggie said with a sigh. Blain laughed again. They didn't have to wait long for the others to join them at the bottom.

"What happened to you?" Jonny asked, pulling off his goggles as he came to a stop beside Maggie. "You're covered with snow."

"I'm thinking I should have taken the bunny hill after all," Maggie laughed. Jonny grinned.

"If you want, I'll go with you," he offered. "I can give you some pointers." Maggie groaned, but it quickly turned to a laugh.

"No, I'm going to try this one again. You guys go do whatever runs you want. Don't let me spoil your fun."

"You don't spoil anything," Jessie said.

"Come find me before lunch," Maggie shooed them. "By then I'm determined to do this run. Without falling." Jessie grinned, and the group started for the lift.

"Let's try the Upper South run," Jonny suggested to Blain and Jessie. "It looks more my style."

"Jonny, you don't have any style," Jessie quipped. "You're lucky you don't fall on your butt every five minutes."

"Hey!" Maggie complained.

"No offense, Maggie," Jessie apologized.

"Is that a challenge?" Jonny asked.

"If you want it to be, Hotshot," Jessie said with a competitive glare.

"No way you'll win, Ace," Jonny shot back. Maggie rolled her eyes.

"Are they always like this?" Ryan asked while Blain and Scott laughed.

"Yeah. You get used to it. It doesn't even faze me anymore," Maggie said, making Ryan laugh and Hadji nod in agreement.

At the top of the lift, they split up. Hadji followed Jonny, Jessie, and Ryan for the more challenging upper runs in an attempt to keep the peace. Blain ended up following Scott and Maggie, offering her advice and pointers as they took the Lower South run several times over. The repetition made Maggie more confident once she'd become familiar with the terrain. Their last run before lunch they decided to race. Blain beat Maggie by a long lead, but Scott trailed her, which she suspected he'd done on purpose. She snowplowed to a stop beside Blain as they watched Scott leisurely finish the run, clearly in last place.

"He must be crazy about you," Blain commented with a teasing, sideways smile. Maggie blushed. "He never lets anyone win on purpose. He's too com…pe…ti…tive…" Blain was staring off at the trees flanking the left side of a more difficult run. Maggie's gaze followed Blain's. There was something not right about those trees… She saw an odd flash of reflected light. "It looks… like a rifle!" Maggie squinted and realized he was right.

"Blain, it's pointing at someone coming down the slope," Maggie said. They both started toward the trees. Neither of them knew what they were going to do to stop the sniper, but they had to try.

"Jonny!" Maggie identified her cousin coming down the mountain at full speed. And Hadji was coming down a ways behind him. Blain saw them, too.

"Get the skis off and run!" Blain ordered, bending down and releasing his ski bindings. Maggie did the same. "You head off Jonny and Hadji. I'll get the guy with the rifle." Maggie didn't have time to question or argue. She ran toward her cousins, waving her poles in the air madly, trying to get their attention. "_Duck and weave_," she kept thinking at them, hoping they'd get the message as she ran erratically toward them. "_Duck and weave_."

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…...

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Jonny was positive it was Maggie who was running toward him like a drunk. Something was very wrong, but he couldn't see anything amiss. Unless you counted a second person who was sprinting straight for the trees at the end of the run. That's when he saw a flash of reflected light from among the trees near the end of the run. Jonny's hair was standing on end, and the details suddenly added up to a whole heap of trouble.

Jonny automatically started to weave back and forth on the slope, just as Maggie had so obviously been trying to convey to him. Erratically moving targets were harder to hit. Maggie must have realized he'd gotten the message because she ducked low behind a snowdrift, out of sight of the sniper. As Jonny neared Maggie's hiding place, he weaved in toward her, then fell purposely, landing heavily in the snow beside Maggie, both of them concealed behind the snowdrift. Jonny got up, careful to remain hidden behind the snow.

"What the hell does Blain think he's doing?" Jonny asked, realizing who the runner was, peering around the drift. Suddenly Blain dove down behind another snowdrift. Jonny watched as the sniper, realizing he'd been spotted, took off through the trees, disappearing. That's when Hadji came to a stop beside them with a spray of snow.

"Is Blain hurt?" Maggie asked, peering around the drift next to Jonny.

"No, he's fine," Jonny assured. He got up with a grunt of irritation, releasing the bindings of his skis. "I didn't get a good look at whoever that was with the gun. Maybe Blain did." Blain was still lying in the snow, but he was looking in their direction, waiting for the all-clear.

"Gun?" Hadji asked, looking between Jonny, Maggie, and the distant Blain.

"Come on, Hadj," Jonny said, leading the way. Hadji skied alongside Jonny and Maggie as they trudged through the snow toward Blain. Blain met them half way.

"He's long gone," Blain said regretfully. "He saw me coming."

"Thanks," Jonny said earnestly holding out a hand to Blain. "You probably saved our necks." Blain nodded, taking his hand in a firm shake.

"Sure," he said. "Any time."

"Come on," Maggie said, looking back to the bottom of the run. Ryan, Jessie, and Scott were waiting there. "Let's get the others. We need to talk."

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…...

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"What was all that?" Scott asked, gesturing toward the bottom of the south runs where Jonny, Blain, Hadji, and Maggie had just come from. Blain launched into the story while Jessie, Ryan, and Scott listened raptly to what happened.

"Did you get a good look at the guy?" Jessie wanted to know. Blain shrugged.

"He was wearing a ski mask. I'm positive it was a man, though," Blain said.

"That's twice now," Scott said. "What are the chances whoever it is will stop?"

"Not very good, I am afraid," Hadji admitted.

"So," Ryan asked matter-of-factly after a moment of awkward silence, "what now?"

"We don't know," Maggie said. "What do you guys want to do?" Silence followed her question. No one really wanted to call it quits on the ski weekend, but the fact remained, someone was targeting them, and they weren't afraid to take shots.

"How about we get lunch?" Blain finally suggested with a determined look.

"Yeah, lunch," Ryan agreed, exchanging a look with Scott, who nodded. Jessie grinned. It appeared this wasn't going to be the end of their ski weekend.

"Excellent idea," Jonny agreed, patting his stomach. "I can't think straight when I'm hungry."

"That explains it then," Jessie quipped as the group headed for the lodge. "You're always hungry, thus, you can never think. I guess it's not the bleach for your hair after all." Jessie's teasing lightened the mood, and there were even a couple laughs as Jonny launched into an insult of his own. The seven of them stashed their ski equipment at the racks, then trooped inside, headed for the restaurant.

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…...

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"Maggie," Scott said quietly, holding her back when the group stopped by the restrooms first. "Are you okay? I think this upset you more than you're letting on." Maggie looked at him in surprise.

"You're right," she confirmed. "How did you know?" she asked, curious.

"Observant," he reminded her with a wry smile. It earned a small smile in return. "That, and last summer you mentioned you'd only known your uncle and his family for a year," Scott recalled.

"You remembered that?" Maggie was surprised.

"Well, yeah," Scott shrugged. "I've got a good memory for details. Can't help it."

"I'll have to remember that," Maggie said thoughtfully. "Observant and good recall."

"Maggie," Scott said, "this morning you mentioned your mom worked for the CIA. I mean, we all know you lost your parents, but you never talk about them. I was always curious why. Then, the way you reacted to the situation last night and this morning… I can't help but wonder… What happened to you, Maggie?"

Maggie turned away from Scott, her eyes blankly scanning the snowy mountain through the floor to ceiling windows while she thought. Scott waited patiently for her reply. He was good at being patient, and he sensed she needed to take her time for this.

"I never knew about my mother's connection to the CIA until she went missing in March, almost two years ago. That's when I learned Dr. Quest was her half-brother, my uncle," Maggie said. "I knew who he was, of course, and I knew his reputation. I had no one else to turn to and took a chance."

"He helped you?" Scott asked gently, already knowing her uncle must have.

"Yes, but we were too late," Maggie said in a whisper. Scott felt terrible when he saw the tears in her eyes, and then watched them fall down her face. Scott pulled her into his arms and held her for a moment while she pulled herself together. "They helped me through all of that, every step of the way, and my life changed completely. I'm still not used to all this, but my uncle and his family, they know what it's like." Scott dropped a light kiss on the top of her head.

"Thanks for telling me that," he said. "I'm guessing there's a lot more to it, but I won't ask."

"Thank-you," Maggie said, and left it at that. She took a deep breath, then pulled herself away. "I think I'm going to go wash my face," she said wiping her damp cheeks.

"Okay," Scott agreed. She nodded, then headed toward the bathroom Jessie had just left a few moments before.

"Was Maggie crying?" Jessie asked Scott, worried.

"A little," Scott said, watching Maggie disappear into the ladies' room. "I asked about her mom. I didn't realize where that would go." Jessie nodded, understanding. "Maybe you should follow her and make sure she's okay."

"I think I will," Jessie agreed. She headed back to the ladies' room as Jonny and Ryan were returning from the men's room. They gave her a curious look as she passed them, which she ignored.

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…...

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Hadji was the last one to finish in the men's room. He went to the sink and turned on the tap to wash his hands. He blinked when the lights went out and he was plunged into unexpected darkness. It was disorienting.

"Who has turned out the lights?" Hadji called out. "Turn them back on." He got no answer; the men's room remained dark and silent. Groping for the tap, Hadji turned it off. He couldn't remember where the hand dryers were, so he decided to skip it and find the door instead. Carefully he set off, feeling a little foolish as he put his hands out in front of himself to help feel his way through the dark, unfamiliar place. Hadji stopped. The hairs on the back of his neck were standing on end. He would swear he wasn't alone.

"Who is there?" he asked. The response was a slithering movement as smooth, silky fabric circled his neck. And then it pulled tight against his throat. Hadji struggled, his initial response to the attack, and pulled at the constricting fabric as he desperately tried to loosen it. He wanted to cough or swallow or clear his throat to unblock his airway, but he couldn't. It was that realization that brought clarity back to his brain.

Immediately he ceased his struggles and instead fell back against his unknown attacker with all his weight and strength thrown into it. The attacker stumbled and fell back onto the floor. The fabric loosened around his neck; Hadji took a desperate breath of air and scrambled for the door. He managed to get a good kick in as he hurried away, which resulted in a guttural "Oomph!" from the would-be strangler.

A faint light in the crack beneath the door became visible as Hadji rounded the corner to the restroom's entrance. He reached up, pulling the door open, and scrambled to his feet as he moved through the open doorway. As the door closed behind him he heard the scraping of metal from inside the restroom, but Hadji was too eager to escape to investigate the noise.

"Hadji?" Jonny asked, uncertain, when he saw his usually cheerful brother stumble from the men's room gasping for air and massaging his throat. Sensing trouble, he hurried over, followed closely by Ryan, Blain, and Scott. "What happened, Hadji?" Jonny asked, looking back suspiciously at the men's room door. Jessie and Maggie chose that moment to emerge from the ladies' room. Jessie gasped when she saw the red marks on Hadji's neck left by the attack. She ran over, followed closely by Maggie.

"How did this happen?" Maggie asked, holding his head between her hands and tipping his head back so she could see the marks more clearly.

"The lights went out," Hadji said, his voice strained and cracking from the attempt on his life. "Someone tried to strangle me." Blain and Jonny ran into the men's room at top speed. Hadji, Maggie, Jessie, Scott, and Ryan followed quickly behind. Jonny found the light switch and turned on the florescent lights. Blain dashed over to search the stalls for whomever had attacked Hadji.

"No one," Blain announced with a shrug.

"How?" Hadji croaked with a shake of his head. "No one exited the men's room after me." The others exchanged questioning looks.

"Hey, what's that?" Ryan said suddenly, pointing to the stainless steel towel dispenser and disposal inset in the wall. The others turned to look. It rested at an odd angle, the left side sticking out from the wall about an inch.

"I heard a grating sound," Hadji said, remembering. Ryan caught his fingers under the lip of the dispenser and pulled. The entire inset swung out like a door. "That is very likely how the perpetrator came and went from this restroom," Hadji surmised.

"It's dark in there," Blain said.

"I wonder what's through there," Jessie mused, looking into the darkness.

"Only one way to find out," Blain said. He slipped through the doorway sideways, disappearing into the dark.

"Find anything?" Jessie called after giving his eyes time to adjust to the dark.

"A utility space," Blain's voice answered back. "Pipes, shut-off valves, mop and bucket, that kind of stuff. And another door." They heard a click of metal, and suddenly they could see inside the utility space as light spilled in from the narrow door opposite. "Another men's room," Blain reported, looking through it. He shut it, then rejoined the others. "The attacker probably escaped through the other men's room. It would have been easy to casually walk out on the other side as if he'd been going about his business."

"Assuming it was a man," Jessie put in.

"It was definitely a man," Hadji confirmed. "I knocked him over to escape."

"There's nothing else we can do here," Scott said. "Maybe we should go get our table now?" There were several nods of agreement, and the group trooped out of the men's room as if it were normal to have two girls in their midst.

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…...

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To be continued…

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	3. Safety in Numbers

Disclaimer: Please see chapter one.

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Warnings: Overall Rating of T.

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A Note from the Author: Posted 2-21-20 ~Sapphire

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The Real Adventures of Jonny Quest

Play Against Danger

By: Sapphire

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Chapter 3: Safety in Numbers

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…...

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Thursday Afternoon

At lunch, the Quests were hesitant to discuss the strangler in the public arena of the lodge restaurant. As a result, conversation was awkward and stilted. The uneasiness that resulted was still with them when they returned to the slopes. The group of seven stood around at the bottom of the ski lift, ready to go. However, everyone seemed reluctant to hitch a ride and head up the mountain. Jonny decided enough was enough.

"So," he said, "someone clearly wants us dead, and we have no idea who or why."

"Are they trying to take out just one of us? A few of us? All of us?" Jessie mused.

"It was Jonny who got shot at through the window, Jonny who the sniper was trying to shoot on the slopes, and I was starting to think the bad guy was out to get Jonny," Ryan said, "but this last time it was Hadji who was the target."

"Whoever is behind all this obviously isn't afraid to stalk us in broad daylight," Maggie added. "That puts Scott, Blain, and Ryan at definite risk. Bystanders, too."

"Agreed," Jessie said, looking at Blain, Ryan, and Scott. "The attacker will figure out you're close to us, and might use you to get to us." Blain winced.

"Dr. Quest and Race would want us to return home," Hadji pointed out. "That is most definitely the safest course of action."

"No way," Jonny and Jessie both said, adamant.

"Since when do we run away from trouble?" Jonny asked.

"I was afraid you would say that," Hadji sighed. "We are going to need a plan."

"All we can do is guess what this guy will try next," Scott pointed out.

"Well, I was right in front of the window," Jonny said, ticking each incident off on his fingers. "I was separated from everyone else coming down the mountain. Hadji was alone in the men's room. It sounds like our bad guy is looking for easy targets."

"Okay, so you're saying no making ourselves easy targets," Blain agreed. "That sounds simple enough. None of us should go anywhere alone."

"I hate to say it, but I think we should take that a step farther. We should stay together in groups," Maggie sighed. "Safety in numbers, I hope."

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…...

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"I think I'm getting the hang of the Lower South run," Maggie said as she, Jonny, and Scott slid off the lift at the top of the mountain late that afternoon. "I can do the run without falling," she cast an accusing glance at Jonny, "so long as I take the run at a _leisurely_ pace."

"I can do leisurely," Jonny said with a crooked grin. Maggie shot him a dubious look as he pushed off, Scott following right behind him. Scott glanced back at Maggie and flashed her a brilliant smile.

"Behave yourselves!" Maggie shouted, scrambling to chase after them. To her relief, they were holding back until she caught up with them, then matched their speed to hers, Scott on her left and Jonny on her right. That's when she caught Scott shooting Jonny a mischievous grin, and Jonny grinning back. Maggie rolled her eyes, and was helpless to stop the two of them and their weird antics as they started switching places, back and forth, passing each other just in front of her as she continued her leisurely downhill slide.

As they came to the final bend, Scott was on the inside curve. Unbeknownst to them, two skiers were coming down behind them at a swift speed. Just as the two skiers were about to pass between the trio, a lone skier suddenly flew out from the trees right into everyone's path, making some kind of collision unavoidable.

Swerving away from the lone skier to avoid being hit, Scott skied right into one of the passing pair, crashing into him with an impact that made Maggie flinch as she stopped the quickest way she knew: falling on her rear. Jonny managed to stop with a swish of snow, avoiding the other of the pair as that one skidded out and landed in the snow. The lone skier disappeared into the trees on the other side of the run.

"Scott!" Maggie shouted as Jonny headed towards the skier that had skidded out. "Scott! Are you okay?" He was lying in a heap, unmoving, tangled with the other skier. Maggie released her bindings, and pushed through the snow, dropping to her knees beside him when she reached him.

"Maggie," He managed to say, spitting snow from his mouth. He lay still while she set to removing his skis. "Help me up," he asked, and she obliged, pulling him up to a sitting position. "Ow," he groaned.

"Jessie!?" Jonny's shout caught Maggie's attention. The skier who had skidded out was sitting up and had taken off her goggles and hat. "Are you all right?"

"I'm okay," she answered. "Did Ryan hit Scott?" she asked worriedly.

Maggie turned to the skier who had hit Scott, laying a few feet away, his skis akimbo. Now that she took a second look, she realized she should have recognized his ski suit with the electric blue stripes across the chest and down the outside of the legs. She scrambled over the snow to his side.

"I couldn't avoid crashing," Ryan mumbled with a groan.

"I know, I saw," Maggie assured, helping him get his goggles off his face as Jonny and Jessie waded through the snow toward them. "Are you hurt? Do you have any pain in an ankle or a wrist…?" Ryan just lay there staring up at the sky for a moment. Maggie figured he was taking inventory of all his limbs and joints. "How about you, Scott?" Maggie asked, glancing his way.

"Nothing broken or sprained," Scott said. "I think I feel a headache coming on, so I might have knocked my head."

"I think I'm about the same," Ryan added as Jessie and Jonny arrived and helped him sit up. "You know, we were lucky. Really, really lucky."

"I'll say," Jonny agreed, plodding through the snow around the pair to help Scott get up on his feet.

"Did anyone see who that was that came out of nowhere?" Maggie asked. Jessie, Ryan, and Scott shook their heads.

"It was definitely a man," Jonny offered, trying to recall. "I think he was wearing the same grey ski jacket as the sniper in the trees this morning, but I can't be positive."

"Come on. Let's get down the slope," Scott said when no one else had anything to add. He and Ryan were shaky on their feet after their collision. They weren't getting to the bottom on their skis, that was for sure. Luckily it wasn't far. They could walk.

Jonny sighed, watching as Jessie pulled Ryan's arm over her shoulders to help steady him and Maggie let Scott lean on her. It looked like he was stuck collecting skis and poles. Not that he was the least surprised. He just didn't like it, and not because he was stuck carrying the gear.

"Do you think this was a deliberate attack?" Ryan asked as they trudged through the snow in their hard ski boots. "The run ends just up ahead. Someone could be waiting to finish the job." The others exchanged a glance.

"He took off across the run and into the woods on the other side," Jonny said. "I don't think he can make it to the bottom to set up another attack."

"But I would say it was deliberate," Jessie added.

"Why would target me, though?" Scott countered.

"Well, there is that," Jessie replied thoughtfully.

"Wait," Maggie said, suddenly stopping in her tracks. Scott stumbled, unprepared for her abrupt halt. The others stopped to wait. "Maybe that skier _was_ targeting Jonny." She pointed first to Scott, then to Jonny. "You're both tall and blonde and wearing black…" The only difference in their ski suits being Jonny's had green accents and Scott's had white. "And the way you two were criss-crossing in front of me, you could have easily confused anyone watching from below." It was a very sober group that came off the run on foot.

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…...

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Scott and Ryan went straight to the infirmary to see Dr. Mansfield, the rest of the group following as soon as they caught up with Hadji and Blain. The infirmary waiting room was unoccupied, the office empty, except for the doctor who appeared within moments.

"You again!" Dr. Mansfield exclaimed, surprised to see Jonny. "More trouble?"

"Not me," Jonny said with a crooked grin, pointing at Scott and Ryan. "Them."

"Ah," Dr. Mansfield said, turning to Ryan and Scott. "What can I do for you?" The doctor glanced back at Jonny before focusing on his patients.

"Well, we were coming down a run and ended up crashing into each other to avoid another skier," Ryan said.

"Nothing's broken, but we're worried about concussions," Scott added.

"And the other skier?" Dr. Mansfield asked, concerned.

"Skied off without even knowing what happened," Ryan said.

"In that case," Dr. Mansfield said, all business, "why don't the two of you follow me back and I'll give you both a quick check." Scott and Ryan got up and followed. Fifteen minutes later they were back in the waiting area, a clean bill of health. "Now you kids go have fun, and try to stay out of trouble."

"We will," Hadji promised.

"Yeah," Jonny agreed. "We'd rather be out there on the mountain than sitting in your office. No offense." Dr. Mansfield chuckled, shooing them out the door.

"None taken."

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…...

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They met at the Quest suite for dinner. Ryan and Scott still looked sleepy from the nap they'd gotten after leaving the infirmary. Jonny had a crackling fire going in the suite's fireplace, and they more or less gathered around it as they ate their room service.

"Penny for your thoughts?" Scott asked Maggie, watching her pick at her food. Maggie was slow to realize someone had spoken to her.

"Sorry," she said with a sheepish smile. It quickly faded. "That's four incidents in less than twenty-four hours. It's getting out of hand. I don't want to cut our weekend short, but a part of me thinks maybe we should go home."

"No way," Jonny said with a shake of his head. "Someone is targeting us. We can't let them get away with it. We gotta figure out who, and we gotta put a stop to it."

"Okay," Jessie said, "let's put our heads together. Who's targeting us, and why?"

"There's the usual list of suspects," Jonny said, "but this doesn't seem to fit with any of them. Call it a gut feeling. We have to come at it from a different angle."

"Well," Maggie said thoughtfully, "aside from today's incident with Scott and Ryan, the only people who have been targeted are you and Hadji. And like I said earlier, Scott could easily have been mistaken for you, Jonny."

"It is curious that only Jonny and I have been targeted, but not Jessie or Maggie," Hadji observed.

"That _is_ strange," Jessie agreed.

"Furthermore," Hadji continued, "if the person behind these attacks means to strike at Dr. Quest or Race, why follow us to Vermont when they could just as easily follow them to Chicago?"

"So…" Blain said, thinking aloud, "They're after _you_? They want you dead? Why?"

"I don't have any real enemies," Jonny answered. "Neither does Hadji."

"That is not to say there are not people who would like to see us dead," Hadji added.

"Maybe the question isn't who wants you dead, but what would someone gain with your deaths," Scott suggested. "Knowing the motive might lead you to the bad guy."

"Actually," Maggie said, a spark of an idea hitting her. "Have you ever seen Uncle Benton looking at photographs of Rachel?" she asked.

"My mom?" Jonny sat up, curious where this was going.

"Jonny and Hadji have been for sure targeted. Uncle Benton's _sons_," Maggie said.

"Ohhhh," Jessie breathed, understanding hitting her as she recalled a moment a year ago when they'd had a fire at the compound. Jessie had been watching when Dr. Quest found a portrait of his wife while picking through the debris. "If Jonny or Hadji died- Dr. Quest would be devastated." Both girls glanced between the brothers who looked stunned. "And if both were dead…"

"It would destroy our father," Hadji said quietly. "It is the most diabolical way I can think of to take the Quest family down."

"Now we're definitely not going anywhere until we figure out who's behind this," Jonny said, determination in his eyes.

"Then we stay, too," Scott said, looking between Maggie and Jessie.

"Like I said, we owe you one for Montana," Blain said, "even though no one's keeping score."

"Decision made," Ryan agreed with a nod. "And yes, we understand what we're getting into. The guy has a couple of guns, tried to strangle Hadji, and didn't care who he hurt on the slopes today. We're still staying."

"Then it's settled," Jessie said. "It's going to be hard work keeping the two of you safe," Jessie sighed. "Especially you, Hot Shot."

"He's going to be a handful," Maggie agreed. "Worse than a pack of toddlers."

"Hey! I resent that!" Jonny complained. Maggie and Jessie just sighed. "Hadji's just as bad," he added lamely.

"Don't we know it!" Jessie retorted.

"But don't forget," Ryan said with a grin. "You girls have the three of us to help."

"Great. Just great," Jonny said with a sigh.

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…...

.

Friday morning, they met for breakfast outside the restaurant. It was the breakfast rush, so they were sitting near the floor to ceiling windows, waiting. Maggie didn't notice at first that Scott was standing right beside her, watching her as she watched the shadows on the mountain recede as the sun slowly climbed in the sky.

"You know I can tell something is bothering you, right?" Scott asked quietly.

"Observant. Right," Maggie returned with a faint smile.

"So…" Scott prompted. Maggie sighed.

"Uncle Benton is the glue that holds this family together," Maggie confided. "They're all I have. It makes me sick to think…" She trailed off, shaking her head. "And… I meant it when I said I didn't want you to get hurt, and you got hurt yesterday."

"Ryan, too," Scott added with a faint smile.

"Ryan, too," Maggie agreed, a little confused as to what was so amusing.

"Do you think it would be best to end the ski weekend now and go home?" Scott asked in earnest, "Because we can."

"If I thought I could get Jonny and Jessie to go along with that, yes," Maggie admitted. "The trouble is, they're determined to catch the person targeting us, and once they set their minds on something…" She sighed. "You and Ryan and Blain aren't much better." Scott couldn't help a chuckle at that.

"It's true," he agreed. "But it isn't as bad as you think it is. For one thing, _we're_ not the targets."

"Maybe not, but whoever this guy is, he doesn't seem to care if innocent people get hurt," Maggie pointed out.

"And the decision of whether or not to accept that risk is up to us, and I'm staying as long as you are," Scott said.

Maggie wasn't sure what to make of that. She didn't really get the chance to think about it or question Scott, because at that moment their group was called to be seated for breakfast. Scott took her hand and led her into the lodge restaurant, and Maggie followed.

.

…...

.

Determined to keep Jonny and Hadji safe, they hit the slopes that morning in a large group, skiing in a flock down the mountain. They were limited to taking runs that Maggie was able to cope with as she was the least skilled skier among them. While skiing was no longer exciting for the more advanced skiers, the group on the whole had to admit it would be hard to target one single member of their group with all of them crowded together.

"Hey," Ryan said to Jessie, pulling her a bit away from the others, "is it just me or is there someone lurking in the woods to the right of the run?" Jessie cast a surreptitious glance to the right. Sure enough, there was a figure standing among the dense trees. Almost, but not quite, camouflaged by the winter underbrush.

"It's not just you," Jessie replied so only Ryan could hear.

"Do you want to do something about them?" Ryan asked.

"Yeah," Jessie answered with a nod. "Let's talk to the others." Jessie and Ryan quickly quelled an escalating 'discussion' over which run to tackle next. "We've got bigger problems right now," she said. The urgency in her voice certainly got everyone's attention. "We've got a suspicious person lurking in the woods to the right of the run we just finished."

"Don't everyone look at once!" Ryan exclaimed in a low tone, stopping half the others from doing just that.

"I can see him from here," Blain said. Standing opposite Jessie and Ryan, he could see right past their shoulders to the trees in question. "If I were a betting man, I'd bet he's the same guy we saw yesterday with the gun."

"I'm sick of being his target," Jonny said. "We need to make a play against this guy, one he won't see coming."

"If we play our cards right, maybe we can corner him and find out who he is," Jessie said. "He's essentially a sitting duck now that we've spotted him."

"Those trees are located between the ends of two runs," Hadji said thoughtfully.

"I'm thinking an ambush is in order," Jonny said, "We're going to have to split up."

"I'm thinking three groups," Jessie said. "One to close in from the bottom of the slope, and two that will hit from above."

"Well," Maggie said with a sigh. "I volunteer for the first group. Who wants the unglamorous job of pairing up with me?"

.

…...

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To be continued…

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	4. Ambush

Disclaimer: Please see chapter one.

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Warnings: Overall Rating of T.

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A Note from the Author: Posted 2-21-20 ~Sapphire

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The Real Adventures of Jonny Quest

Play Against Danger

By: Sapphire

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Chapter Four: Ambush

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…...

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Friday Morning

"Catch ya at the bottom, Ace!" Jonny called, taking off for the chair lift.

"I'll be waiting for you, Hot Shot!" Jessie called back, following after him.

"And I will be waiting here to determine the winner," Hadji said with a sigh.

"I'll wait with you, Hadji," Maggie said as the others headed for the chair lift. It was all an act, of course. If they were right, then that person in the trees was watching their every move, and none of them wanted to give the game away before it had even begun. "How about some hot cocoa while we wait?" Maggie asked Hadji.

"An excellent idea," Hadji agreed, leading the way. They had no intention of getting hot cocoa, though. What they wanted was to disappear into the crowd that would be there.

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…...

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"Another minute," Jessie said, consulting her watch. "They should be at the start of the run by now, counting seconds on Jonny's watch."

"They go at twenty second intervals, and we go at the 40 second mark after they start, right?" Scott asked.

"Exactly," Jessie said. "And make a show of racing when we get close to the bottom. You're supposed to be Jonny. He's _competitive_."

"Yeah, so I've gathered," Scott said with a chuckle, making Jessie smile.

"It's time," Jessie said, eyes still on her watch. "If they maintain their 20 second intervals, they shouldn't attract any attention when they reach the bottom."

"That would be our job," Scott said. Jessie nodded.

"I hope you're ready," Jessie said, adjusting her goggles on her eyes. "Ten seconds. Eight. Six. Four. Two. Go!" With that, they both pushed off down the slope, careful to keep abreast of each other until they got closer to the bottom.

.

…...

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"Hurry! We are running out of time!" Hadji urged as he and Maggie raced on foot along the path that paralleled the lodge on the side that faced the ski slopes. They had circled through the lodge and exited through a side door. It had taken longer than expected, and now they were running to get into position in time. When the slopes finally came into view at the end of the path, they could see Jessie and Scott already nearing the bottom, and three skiers on the other run were already arriving, starting for the copse of trees where their unknown foe lay in wait.

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…...

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As Jessie and Scott rounded the bend, putting on speed as they approached the bottom, Jessie could see the man in the trees watching for them. Behind the man were Jonny, Ryan, and Blain coming in fast, completely unnoticed. Jessie knew the moment the man recognized her and Scott as his targets. His stance tensed, and she wondered what he had in store for them. Scott noticed too, she realized, when he shifted direction, skiing closer to her in a move to edge her sideways toward the trees. Perfect. She made a show of trying to cut in front of him, but he kept pace, making a show of keeping her on the outside edge. The man seemed unaware that the move was anything other than one racer edging the other out of a win. Jessie couldn't see Hadji or Maggie anywhere, and hoped they were in position. She and Scott would reach the man ahead of the others, which wasn't the plan, but they would have to act or blow the whole ambush.

"Now!" Jessie shouted as they came to the copse of trees where the man stood. Jessie turned sharply to the side, slowing her descent with her skis until she was slow enough to turn into a narrow gap in the trees that led straight to the man. Scott turned in directly behind her. Jessie couldn't resist a smirk when the man froze in surprise. Jessie didn't know who he was behind the ski mask and goggles, but she didn't care. She aimed right for him.

The man suddenly realized she was going to crash right into him, and he threw himself sideways at the last moment, forcing Jessie to stop or crash into a tree. She did the only thing she could and threw herself down into the snow, sliding skis first into the brush. She heard the sickening crack of her skis breaking and offered up a silent prayer her own limbs wouldn't be next.

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…...

.

"Jessie!" Ryan's shout echoed through the trees when he saw her go down. His concern cost his group the element of surprise. They'd been seen. "Damn! Sorry!" he exclaimed as they rushed into the trees on their skis. The man scrambled up out of the snow and grabbed a rifle that no one had seen leaning against a tree.

"Whoa," Blain said as he, Jonny, and Ryan paused, all eyes on that rifle. But then then man turned and bolted for the trail that led along the lodge, staying in the thicker trees where anyone on skis couldn't go.

"Go!" Ryan urged them. "I've got Jessie."

"We have to cut him off," Blain said, pushing off toward the open slopes to the left. "I'll circle around this way!"

"I'll circle around this way," Scott volunteered, heading to the right. It had been a miracle he'd avoided a crash with Jessie _and_ stayed on his feet somehow.

Jonny glanced at Jessie, knew she was in good hands with Ryan, and pushed off after Scott, guessing that's the way the man would go, not taking his eyes off the man running in the trees. It looked like the man was going to get away as he darted across the open space at the bottom of the runs toward the tree lined path that ran along the lodge. Before he reached the path, however, Maggie and Hadji came running up the trail, cutting off his escape. The man managed to evade the two, turning right for the highly populated ski lift area.

"Come on, Hadji!" Maggie shouted, following the man. Hadji didn't need any urging, passing Maggie as they took chase. Scott and Jonny were still up the slope, too far away to catch him, but they were picking up speed fast, closing the gap between them and their quarry. It was Blain who had the most ground to cover, but even he was determined to catch up.

Despite his head start, the man was on foot, and slower than most of his pursuers. By the time he reached the busy area around the base of the ski lift, those behind had caught up to Hadji and Maggie.

The man ran right into the middle of a large group of novice skiers, knocking a few of them over, causing chaos in his wake. Maggie and Hadji, with the advantage of following on foot, were able to dart through a gap between people, but Jonny, Scott, and Blain were slowed, having to navigate through the mess on skis.

"He's headed into the trees!" Jonny shouted, breaking free of the tangle of downed skiers, Blain and Scott behind him.

"Watch it!" Maggie cautioned as they caught up to her and Hadji again. Their quarry was completely concealed behind the thick evergreen branches. She could easily envision the chase turning into a counter-ambush, and with Hadji and Jonny out front, it could be deadly. They approached the path, and as they neared, they could see into the trees along the trail. Sure enough, they could see the man still running up ahead. They followed after him along the snowy path, but as they approached a bend, the man turned, pointing a long rifle at them.

"Get down!" Hadji shouted, having been thinking along the same lines as Maggie. He threw himself sideways into the trees and out of the open. Jonny hit the snow a split second later, alongside Blain who had had the sense to do as Hadji said. Maggie reached instinctively for the person beside her, dragging Scott down with her just a moment before a shot rang out. It missed its mark. Jonny was the first to look up, to see if the man with the rifle was still there.

"He's gone," Jonny said. He slowly sat up, as did the others. "At least, I hope he is," Jonny amended, trying to figure out if the man really was gone, or if he was hiding, just waiting for the opportunity to take another shot.

"I, for one, am not going to run up the trail to find out," Maggie said, "and neither are any of you." She shot Jonny a stubborn, stern look that told him not to argue.

"Fine," he agreed after a long moment. "I don't like our odds against that rifle, anyway. Let's get out of here."

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…...

.

"Jessie?" Ryan hurriedly freed his boots from his skis and dropped to his knees in the snow beside her as the others raced off. Her eyes were closed, her skis were literally snapped in half, and she was laying very still. "Jessie? Say something!"

"I'm not dead," she mumbled with a groan. Ryan was flooded with relief. "I'm not sure if I'm broken or not, though."

"Well, what hurts?" Ryan asked with concern.

"Everything," Jessie said with another groan, making Ryan smile a little half smile in spite of the situation.

"Anything that hurts more than the rest?" Ryan specified.

"I don't think so," Jessie replied after a moment.

"Good," Ryan said. "Now, if you can wiggle your fingers and toes, and move your ankles and wrists without pain, I can get your skis off you."

"Head, shoulders, knees, and toes," Jessie mumbled.

"What?" Ryan was confused. "Did you hit your head or something?" Jessie just started to laugh, then groaned again.

"Just doing what you said," Jessie finally replied. "Checking to see that everything works. Sort of like playing Head, Shoulders, Knees, and Toes."

"Your sense of humor seems to be intact," Ryan laughed, making Jessie smile.

"Help me up, will you?" Jessie asked. "I think I'm miraculously uninjured. For the most part." Ryan moved, reaching for her feet to release the bindings on her skis. He removed the pieces of skis and tossed them aside with a grimace. Jessie's crash hadn't been pretty. Once she was free of the skis, Ryan moved beside her and slipped an arm under her shoulders to help her sit up.

"Ready to get to your feet?" Ryan asked after a few moments. She nodded. Ryan stood, then reached down, taking both her hands in his. With a nod from Jessie, he pulled, and she was soon on her feet. "Are you good for a minute?" he asked. Jessie nodded again, and Ryan let go of her to collect his skis, and the broken pieces of hers. "Do you know how lucky you were?" he asked, looking closer at a broken ski.

"Yes," Jessie replied seriously. "I thought I'd break something, at the very least."

"Were you a cat in a past life, or something?" Ryan asked, trying to lighten the mood a little. "It's like you have nine lives." She smiled faintly and shook her head dismissively. She didn't care to think about how many close calls she'd had over the years. Well over nine, certainly. "Come on," Ryan said. "Let's get you inside. I'll help you."

.

…...

.

Jessie and Ryan went straight to the suite. Jessie insisted she didn't need to see the infirmary doctor. The worst she'd incurred was a bruised backside. That made Ryan laugh.

"Where do you want, er, these?" he asked, holding out the sad remains of her skis after she let them in with her key card.

"Just dump them in the corner there," she said, pointing. "Ugh. Looking at them makes me so mad. I just got those for Christmas." Ryan winced. "Now I have to rent skis the rest of the time we're here."

"Out of sight they go," he agreed, dumping them where indicated. "When is your birthday again?" Ryan asked. "You might want to ask for new skis." Jessie couldn't help it. She burst out laughing. That's when the others arrived.

"I hope you're going to share the joke, because we could use a laugh right now," Jonny said. The others filed into the suite behind him.

"What happened?" Jessie asked.

"We got shot at and he got away," Blain said with disgust after making sure the door was closed behind them.

"Luckily none of us was hurt," Hadji was quick to point out.

"Hey Jess?" Jonny asked, holding up a piece of the broken skis he'd just found in the corner. "Are you okay? Because your new skis are _not_ okay."

"I've been worse," Jessie said. "I'm going to be so stiff tomorrow…"

"Go," Maggie said, pointing to the bedroom she and Jessie shared. "Go take a long soak in the tub. Do some stretches. It'll help. The rest of us will go get some lunch. I'll bring you back a sandwich. We can all talk later."

"You know what?" Jessie said, "I think I will." No one said another word as she crossed the room and disappeared into the room she shared with Maggie.

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…...

.

Jonny remained in the suite when everyone went down to the restaurant for lunch. No one argued when he pointed out someone ought to stay behind with Jessie. Under the circumstances, none of them should be alone, even if they weren't the likely target. Maggie promised to send up some sandwiches he and Jessie could share.

Once everyone was gone there wasn't much to keep him occupied. He decided to light a fire on the big hearth and had it crackling merrily away in just under a quarter hour. He welcomed the warmth as he pulled up a chair next to the fireplace because, quite frankly, the idea of someone targeting him and Hadji made his blood run cold.

The hypnotizing effect of the flickering flames had him lost in thought until there was a knock on the door. He figured it was the sandwiches Maggie had promised, but he checked the security camera on a small wall screen next to the door just to be sure. Room service verified, he accepted the sandwiches, then helped himself to two of the six. He figured he could split the remaining four when Jessie came out of her room. _If_ she ever came out. She'd been in there a while. Longer than he thought necessary, really.

"Jess?" he called out. No answer. He left the sandwich plate on the table in the kitchenette and went to stand outside the bedroom door. "Jess? Are you in there?" Still no answer. "Jessie, I'm coming in." A little worried, he cautiously opened the door, not wanting to intrude on her privacy. He needn't have worried. The first thing he saw was Jessie, fully dressed and curled up on the bed, asleep.

Did she look a little paler than usual? Jonny wasn't sure. Maybe it was because the damp strands of her red hair surrounding her face were darker when wet than they were when dry. He didn't know. What he did know was that he didn't like seeing her so vulnerable. He never really had.

"Quit staring at me."

"I wasn't staring," Jonny said, a little startled. He'd thought Jessie was asleep.

"You're staring," Jessie argued. How she knew where he was looking with her own eyes closed, Jonny didn't know. ESP maybe?

"I came in here to check on you, make sure you didn't drown in the tub, and then I kind of got lost in thought," Jonny said.

"Thinking about what?" Jessie asked.

"The stalker with the gun," Jonny quickly answered. "I can't think of who he could possibly be."

"Staring at me made you think about a crazy nut with a gun?" Jessie's eyes opened and she stared up at him in disbelief.

"No," Jonny said patiently. "Checking to make sure you were okay made me start thinking about how to _keep_ you and everyone okay. That led to trying to figure out who the guy with the gun is so we can figure out how to stop him."

"I feel like I should be making a snarky comeback, but since you're serious I just can't," Jessie said.

"That sounds insulting somehow," Jonny said, making Jessie laugh. "Come on. Get up. Maggie sent sandwiches, and I'm starving."

"Nothing ruins your appetite, Jonny," Jessie teased with a wry smile. "You're a human food disposal." Jonny laughed, despite himself, and waited while Jessie stiffly rose from the bed. "I knew I was going to be sore, but I think that hot bath helped." She grabbed an elastic band from the bedside table and used it to secure her damp hair in a ponytail. Then she followed Jonny from the room to the table where he'd left the plate of sandwiches. They sat down opposite each other, and Jonny pulled the cover off.

"I waited for you," Jonny said.

"I'm speechless," Jessie said, eying him suspiciously. Then she looked at the sandwich plate. There were four sandwiches, two for each of them. Jessie frowned. Maggie knew better than to send so few when Jonny was eating. "You ate some already, didn't you?" Jessie accused. She laughed at the look of guilt that crossed Jonny's face.

"Maybe I did," Jonny half admitted. "But I did save some for you." She gave him an arch look. "You first?" Jessie sighed, resigned, and picked up a sandwich.

.

…...

.

After lunch, Blain convinced the others to hit the slopes again. The activity didn't have the same appeal without Jessie and Jonny, but they needed an outlet for the nervous energy and tension that was stifling the group. After a couple runs, even Maggie had to admit Blain had been right. Physical activity had done them a world of good. Even if she didn't get any actual enjoyment out of it this go 'round.

Scott could tell Maggie wasn't having fun and kept close to her. It was no secret that skiing wasn't her forte. Yet, there she was, sliding toward the chair lift again without a complaint. He glanced up at Blain, Ryan, and Hadji who had already gotten on the lift. He made an impulsive decision and reached for Maggie's arm, holding her back.

"Let's go somewhere else," Scott said in reply to her questioning look. "There's more to do here than ski. We could swim in the pool," he suggested, "or we could go skating at the rink."

"I- I'd like that," Maggie said, brightening. Then she looked at the others on the ski lift. "But maybe we should stick together?"

"It's a nice day. There'll be lots of people at the rink. And since Jonny is up in your suite with Jessie, and the other three are together, everyone should be safe enough," Scott said. Maggie smiled, excitement dancing in her eyes. Scott smiled back, infinitely glad he'd been the one to make her happy.

"I need to get my skates," Maggie said excitedly. "Do you have your own skates, or do you need to rent them?"

"I've got my hockey skates in my room. We can get them on the way to the suite," Scott said. Maggie flashed him another smile, and they turned back toward the lodge.

Maggie found the suite empty when she let herself and Scott in, but she wasn't worried. Jessie and Jonny would stick together, despite their attitudes on 'babysitting'. Scott waited while she quickly changed into a set of green athletic pants and matching top, pulling a warm sweater on over them. Then she grabbed her skates, gloves, hat, and scarf before they headed down to the rink on the frozen lake behind the lodge.

The ice was occupied by two people when they arrived. They found a bench outside the warming house and quickly laced up their skates. Hitting the ice, Maggie raced ahead of Scott, doing a few laps for warm up. Skating was something Maggie found both calming and exhilarating. The cold wind on her face always had a way of clearing her head. Gliding over the ice on steel blades gave her a sense of power and accomplishment, because she had taken a _lot_ of falls before gaining this particular set of skills.

"Show off!" Scott called as she passed him by, doing backward crossovers, her arms out to her sides, gaining speed. Maggie laughed.

"This isn't showing off, it's just skating backward!" she called as she passed him. "_This_ is showing off!" She turned forward before bending into a spiral (which was actually gliding on one leg rather than spinning), body parallel to the ice, arms out, one leg extended straight behind her. She straightened, looped the other end of the rink, then picked up a little speed for momentum as she eased into a spin. Deciding her right knee was up to holding her weight, she lifted her left leg and leaned back, turning the spin into a layback. She came out of the spin to applause from not only Scott, but the two strangers on the rink as well. She gave a little curtsy and joined Scott, laughing.

"Total show off," he said with a teasing grin. "No jumps?"

"Not today," Maggie said with a shake of her head.

"I was joking!" Scott said, laughing. "Can you really? Do triple axels and stuff?"

"No," Maggie replied in all seriousness. "Not triples." Then she smiled.

"Doubles?" Scott asked, impressed.

"Singles," Maggie corrected with a shrug, "but I won't be attempting any today. Remember I hurt my knee last year?" she asked. Scott nodded, still impressed. He remembered her mentioning it the previous summer in Montana. "Well, my knee is fully healed now, but I haven't built up the strength to make me comfortable doing jumps just yet. I don't want to reinjure my knee."

"Understandable," Scott said. "Where'd you learn to do that?"

"I took years of lessons as a kid," she replied. "I skated all winter, and rode horses all summer at camp. That was my life, and I loved it!" Maggie grabbed his hands and started skating backward, pulling him along with her. He followed willingly, inordinately pleased with himself for thinking of a way to put a genuine smile on her face again.

"You'd think more people would be out here with the nice weather and all," Scott said, glancing at the other two people on the rink as he turned them around, holding hands, so he was skating backward, leading her.

"This is a _ski_ lodge," she pointed out with an amused smile. "Most guests are taking advantage of the _ski_ slopes during this nice weather." Scott laughed.

"You have me there," Scott admonished. "But I was hoping there would be more people. You know, because of the attacks. I'd feel better in a crowd."

"I know, but I think we'll be all right," Maggie said. "I just want to have fun."

"Well, since we're here," Scott said with a shrug. Then Maggie laughed, but only because Scott had not been paying attention to where he was going and ran off the edge of the rink into a snow bank. He looked up at her, stunned, and she laughed some more.

"Here, let me help you up," she said, extending her hand toward him. He scowled, flushed with embarrassment, and took her hand. Then he pulled, dragging her down into the snow beside him. Now it was Maggie who looked stunned and Scott who was laughing. "I can't believe you did that," she said.

"I can't believe you didn't warn me I was about to crash into a snow bank," Scott shot back with a grin. Maggie shrugged, smiling, chagrinned. Scott got to his feet and then helped Maggie up from the wet snow. "I think that makes us even, don't you-" he stopped short as snow sprayed up into his face after hitting him square in the chest. He blinked, wiping the cold, prickly snow from his cheeks. "Why you…" He grabbed for some snow next to him and hurled it at Maggie. It hit her in the shoulder.

"You actually just did that…" she said, astonished, wiping off her own face.

"You started it," Scott chastised with a laugh. She glared, then smiled a very wicked smile at him. She scooped up another wad of snow and hurled it at him. He put up a hand to block it. It burst apart as his hand made contact, spraying them both. Maggie burst into a fit of giggles. Scott dove for the snow bank, scooping up another handful of wet snow.

"You know this means war, right?" Scott warned, a twinkle in his blue eyes, packing the snow in his hand into a neat ball. Maggie scrambled out of the way as fast as she could. Scott hurled the snowball at her, but Maggie was just able to maneuver out of the way.

"You can do better than that," Maggie teased. Scott grabbed another wad of snow and skated toward her menacingly. "Oh, ho," she said. "You'll have to catch me first."

"Challenge accepted!"

The chase was on, Scott trying his best to keep up with Maggie. They were both laughing, Maggie teasingly keeping just out of range, and Scott threatening her playfully with the snowball. Scott bluffed a shot at Maggie, which she fell for, and then caught her around the waist. And there, with the backdrop of mountains, blue skies and brilliant sunlight turning the snow to glittering powder, Scott kissed Maggie. Maggie slipped her arms around Scott's neck as he kissed her, just living in the moment. If felt… good.

"That was nice," Maggie said as Scott leaned his forehead against hers, looking at her with a satisfied smile on his face. "Kiss me again?" Scott laughed softly, then kissed her a second time. When it was over, Maggie let Scott take her by the hand as he led her around and around the rink, just enjoying the winter sun and being together.

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…...

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"Has anyone seen Maggie or Scott?" Blain asked as he, Hadji, and Ryan reached the bottom of the mountain after a good run. He received head shakes in answer.

"I haven't seen them in a while, actually," Ryan commented. "Do you think they're still on the slope?"

"I am not certain," Hadji said with a shrug as he looked up at the mountain.

"Hey guys! Over here!" Their attention was caught by Jessie, calling out from behind them. She and Jonny were standing by the little concession stand, steaming cups of hot cocoa in their hands. The trio went to join them.

"Feeling better?" Ryan asked, sliding to a stop beside Jessie.

"Much," Jessie replied with a nod. "We thought we'd have to wait a while for all of you to come down from the top, so we grabbed refreshments." She held out her cup to Ryan who was eying it longingly. He accepted it and took a long, slow sip. "Where are Scott and Maggie?"

"No idea," Blain said with a shake of his head. "We were just wondering that ourselves." He pointed up the mountain. "I honestly don't think they're up there. I haven't seen them in a while. I think they skipped out."

"I am most surprised," Hadji said. "I expected Maggie would be more careful, especially since Scott has already been mistaken for Jonny once."

"Let's ditch our skis and go get them," Blain suggested.

"If I know Maggie, I'm betting they found the ice rink," Jonny said. "She's out on the pond at home almost every day lately."

"Scott and Maggie have been together a lot this weekend," Ryan observed. He caught Jessie's gaze, and they exchanged a knowing look. Scott and Maggie had been nearly inseparable in Montana, too. "Honestly, I think they'd rather have some privacy, if you catch my meaning." He took another long sip of Jessie's cocoa before handing it back.

"Blain's right," Jessie said, finished the cocoa as she curiously watched Jonny and Hadji exchange loaded looks. She would have to ask them about that later. "We should go get them. But first, let's stop and get some more cocoa. Ryan drank most of mine. He owes me another one."

"Sure," Ryan said with a laugh. "I'll get you another."

.

…...

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To be continued…

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	5. Trap

Disclaimer: Please see chapter one.

.

Warnings: Overall Rating of T.

.

A Note from the Author: Posted 2-28-20 ~Sapphire

.

.

.

.

The Real Adventures of Jonny Quest

Play Against Danger

By: Sapphire

.

.

.

.

Chapter Five: Trap

.

…...

.

Location: Kings Mountain, Vermont

Friday Afternoon

"_There_ they are," Blain said when he spotted Scott and Maggie heading toward them, coming up the path to the lake. They both had skates over their shoulders, and looked like they were wet from head to toe. "Did you go skating or swimming?" Blain asked.

"Skating," Maggie said with a laugh.

"There may have been a few dozen snowballs and a few wipe outs involved," Scott said, making Maggie laugh again.

"Sorry we ditched all of you, but I needed a break from skiing," Maggie said.

"You could have just said so," Blain chastised. "We decided to call it a day on the slopes anyway. We could have made a party of it at the rink."

"What gives, Maggie?" Jonny complained. "Aren't you the one who said safety in numbers? And you expect me to follow rules you don't?"

"At least she had a buddy," Ryan pointed out.

"But no one knew where they were," Jonny countered.

"I'm sorry," Maggie apologized to her cousin, giving him a quick hug. "I didn't mean to worry you." Jonny sighed. He couldn't really stay mad at her for long.

"Jeeze, you really are soaked. Go get changed before you catch a cold," he said.

"Meet us down in the lobby when you're done," Jessie said. "We can get an early dinner, and then figure out what we're doing tonight."

"We'll be quick," Scott promised as he and Maggie headed off, hand in hand.

"Perhaps one more should go? For safety?" Hadji wondered aloud.

"No way," Blain said with a shake of his head. "Who wants to be a third wheel?"

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…...

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Maggie and Scott stopped at the boys' room on the way to the suite so he could change first. It didn't take long. At the suite, Maggie quickly changed out of her wet clothes and into a pair of jeans and her favorite powder blue sweater. She let Scott into the bedroom before grabbing a hairbrush and elastic headband.

"This will just take a minute," she promised as she stood in front of a mirror and started pulling the brush through her sandy brown hair. "We don't want Jonny to worry."

"No, we wouldn't want that," Scott agreed with a chuckle. "Overprotective, isn't he?"

"A little, but it was warranted, don't you think?" Maggie asked, catching his gaze in the mirror. "We should have at least told someone where we were headed."

"You're right," Scott conceded with a nod. "I don't really have regrets, though. Do you?" Maggie shook her head, finished with her hair, then led the way out of the bedroom. "You know, I have the distinct feeling at least some of them knew exactly what we'd been up to at the rink."

"You mean this?" Scott asked, stopping her for a kiss. Maggie's arms reached up, circling his neck as she practically melted into the kiss. They didn't actually need to go back downstairs, did they? He wasn't sure why Maggie had stopped pushing him away, but he wasn't going to question it, not now. He liked this too much.

"Yes," Maggie said breathlessly, looking up into his blue eyes, "exactly that."

"Probably," Scott said thoughtfully. "But let's face it. Ryan, Blain, and Jessie aren't stupid. It wouldn't be hard for them to guess…" Scott trailed off, his attention distracted by something in the direction of the door. Maggie turned to look.

"What's that?" she asked, spotting a white rectangular envelope on the floor.

"It wasn't there when we came in," Scott said, dropping his arms from around her, stepping over, and picking it up. "It's got Hadji's name on it," he said, turning it over in his hand. "I have a bad feeling about this." Maggie felt goosebumps on her skin. She couldn't agree more.

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…...

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"Look what we found," Maggie said as Scott dropped the envelope on the coffee table when they joined the others near one of the big fireplaces. "It was on the floor in the suite, probably slipped under the door."

"It wasn't there when we got there, but it was there when we went to leave," Scott added. "I think someone was watching us. Could be they still are." No one moved at first, just staring at the envelope with Hadji's name blocked out in black lettering on the front.

"Let us just see what is inside," Hadji said, picking up the envelope. He opened the flap and slid the contents out onto the coffee table. A plastic card slid to a stop off center of the table. Jessie picked it up.

"It's a key card. The same kind the lodge uses," she said.

"Anything else in the envelope?" Jonny asked. Hadji looked inside.

"No. Nothing," he replied.

"What does the key card open, then?" Blain wondered aloud.

"I hope it's not our room or the suite," Ryan said, watching Jessie turn the key over and over in her hand. "We'll have to check at some point."

"Maybe it opens nothing," Scott said. "Maybe the card _is_ the message. Like, whoever is after Jonny and Hadji, he has access to places, or can _get_ access."

"I do not like what that either theory would imply," Hadji said.

"Either way, that innocuous looking plastic card is making my instincts scream _danger_," Jessie said. There were several nods of agreement.

"We should eat first," Jonny said, his stomach grumbling. "We'll have to wait forever for a table if we don't go now, before the dinner rush. We can check into the card after."

"I second that idea," Blain agreed. "I'm _hungry_."

"Okay, let's eat," Maggie agreed. "We can come up with a plan over dinner." They left the seating area and headed for the lodge restaurant.

"Jessie," Ryan said in a low tone so only she would hear. "I think the key card actually does open a door." He had Jessie's attention, the two of them falling behind the others. "I don't think it's the suite or my room, though we should check them first."

"What are you thinking?" Jessie asked, just as quietly.

"You have the key card?" Ryan asked, glancing at the others getting farther ahead of them. Jessie nodded. "Come on. Let's go find out if my hunch is right." The two of them turned back, heading toward the lodge stairs.

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…...

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Jessie and Ryan went straight to the suite. When they reached the door, they stopped, glanced worriedly at one another, and then tried the mystery key card from the envelope. The key reader flashed red.

"Try it again," Ryan said. "Sometimes they don't work the first time." Jessie nodded, then tried the key card again. It flashed red again. Jessie tried it twice more before Ryan took it and tried it three more times. "Well, I guess that's conclusive enough. It doesn't open the suite."

"I'm not sure if I'm relieved or not," Jessie said.

"Let's go try my room," Ryan said. Jessie nodded and they headed for the guys' room. This time Ryan tried the card first. After three failed attempts, Jessie took the card and tried another half dozen times.

"Okay, so that's overkill, but at least we're sure it doesn't open your door," she said. "So, now do you want to tell me what you think it opens?"

"I think it actually opens Jonny and Hadji's old room," Ryan told her.

"Huh. I didn't consider that," Jessie said. "What makes you think it would?"

"Well, that's where whoever it is made their first move. And…" Ryan gave Jessie an uncertain look. "There are two possibilities the way I see it. First, there's some kind of message waiting for us there. Or… I think it could be a trap."

"That's a scary possibility," Jessie said. "I'm glad Jonny and Hadji aren't here, because I think we need to go check it out, and the last place I want either of them is in the line of fire. Again."

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…...

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"Are you sure about this?" Ryan asked, standing next to Jessie outside the door of the room Jonny and Hadji had shared that first night.

"Maybe it won't open," Jessie said.

"I hope you're right, but I don't think that's the case."

"Well, here goes nothing," Jessie said. She slid the key card into the reader. It lit up green.

"Damn," Ryan whispered under his breath. He and Jessie exchanged a look, then Ryan turned the handle and pushed the door open while Jessie cautiously looked inside. The room appeared empty, not a hint of anyone present.

Jessie entered the room as silently as she could, Ryan right behind her. The first thing she did was quietly turn the deadbolt so it would catch on the door frame, keeping the door from closing. No way was she letting them get trapped. They stood there, just inside the door, letting their eyes adjust to the dark, thanks to the boarded-up window.

Suddenly they were both blinded by bright light shining directly into their eyes.

"Not you!" came a hissed exclamation, one of disgust. The next thing either Jessie or Ryan knew was that Ryan was shoved aside, right into Jessie, knocking them both down, as a figure in a ski mask rushed past them and jerked open the door, escaping.

"Sorry! Sorry!" Ryan exclaimed, scrambling to get off Jessie.

"Quick! We have to follow him!" Jessie returned, accepting his hand up. Once they were both on their feet, they gave chase, running out of the room into the main hall. They paused, listening.

"That way!" Ryan pointed toward the stairwell to their left. They ran, then took the stairs down two at a time. At the bottom, they were just in time to see a man in a ski mask and grey ski jacket dash through a side exit, the glass door swinging shut behind him. They followed.

Outside, the cold hit them both in a windy blast. Neither was wearing a coat. That didn't stop them. They looked around, searching, until Jessie spotted the man and pointed up the trail that led to the lake. Ryan silently nodded, and they ran, trying to catch up. As he came to the lake, the man passed right by the path leading to the ice rink. Then, with the good lead he had on them, he vanished from sight among the trees of the winding path that followed the lakeshore.

Luckily, all the other footprints in the snow led to the warming house beside the lake. Their quarry had left the only set of tracks that continued on. Jessie and Ryan followed them for several minutes until a log cabin came into view. The tracks they followed led right up the steps to the front door.

"This must be one of the summer cabins. They're closed up at the end of the warm season," Ryan said, trying to keep his voice down. "No heat."

"I'm going in," Jessie said resolutely. "He's not getting away this time."

"Then I'm going with you," Ryan said, following up the steps to the front door.

It wasn't even closed. Their quarry had left it slightly ajar. Jessie slowly pushed it fully open, then stepped inside. There wasn't much light, just what came in from the open door. The windows were shuttered tightly against the winter weather, except for two small triangular windows near the peak of the vaulted ceiling. From what they could see, the front room was sparse, just a tiny kitchenette and a few pieces of furniture covered over with clear plastic drop cloths.

A soft sound, a snick, reached them from somewhere deeper inside the cabin, from behind one of the two closed doors opposite them. They checked the one on the left first. It turned out to be a small bathroom. One glance told them there was nowhere to hide in there. They retreated back to the main room and tried the door on the right. It led into a bedroom and on the opposite wall was another door, one that opened out to the exterior of the cabin. Jessie raced across the room and tried the door. It was locked from the outside.

Both of them jumped when a door slammed. Jessie raced back to the front room, Ryan with her, only to have her suspicions confirmed. The front door, which they had left open, was closed. Jessie ran to the door and tried the knob. It turned, but when she pulled, the door wouldn't budge. She pulled harder, but it remained tightly closed.

"Well," Ryan said pragmatically, "looks like we need to find another way out."

"Hopefully before we freeze," Jessie said, rubbing her arms with a shiver.

"I hope you don't mind," Ryan said, wrapping his arms around her. "I'm cold, too."

"No complaints," Jessie said, wrapping her arms around him, too, welcoming the warmth. "Now think. How do we get out of here?"

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…...

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"I can't believe Jessie and Ryan bailed," Jonny huffed as the group exited the restaurant. They'd realized they were down two members of their party when they were seated, and when the two in question failed to show after a reasonable amount of time, they'd apologized to the server and left him a decent tip for his trouble. "I mean, we just had this conversation an hour ago when Maggie and Scott ran off to the ice rink. What are they thinking?"

"I think Jessie still had the key card," Blain recalled.

"They probably went to try it on a few doors," Scott said.

"You think that makes it better?" Jonny was incredulous. "No innocent person slipped that envelope under the door."

"I am sure Jessie is aware of that," Hadji said, "and she is not exactly helpless."

"Let's just go get them," Jonny said with an irritated sigh. "We should check the rooms, first. That's where they'd probably start." They headed up the main stairs to look.

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…...

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"First, let's take stock of what we have to work with," Jessie said after a minute of thinking. "You take the bathroom and bedroom storage. I'll take the kitchen. Look for anything that could be useful. A pry bar or a sledgehammer would be great." Ryan actually laughed, despite himself.

"I'll keep that in mind," he said as they let go of one another and headed off toward their designated search areas. "If you find a parka in the cabinets, I'll rock-paper-scissors you for it." It was Jessie's turn to laugh.

"Deal," Jessie said, opening the first cabinet as Ryan ducked into the bathroom to start there. In hindsight, they shouldn't have chased whoever he was outside without jackets. They needed to figure something out. Fast.

The bathroom was quite sparse, Ryan noted as he stepped inside. Only one cabinet that was completely bare, and a narrow linen closet that was equally empty. There wasn't even a shower curtain in the shower. The lodge staff hadn't left so much as a bar of soap behind. He left the bathroom. Jessie was steadily working her way across the kitchenette. Ryan ducked into the bedroom. He searched the small wardrobe first. Empty except for a few hangers. He moved on to the dresser. Also empty. That just left the bedside tables. He struck out with both.

"Nothing," Ryan reported, returning to the main room.

"Same," Jessie replied, closing the last cabinet. She turned and scanned the rest of the main room. There was a coat tree in the corner by the door. "That might be useful," she said, pointing.

"Um…. How?" Ryan asked.

"The windows are boarded up," Jessie said," from the _outside_. If we open a window from the inside, we can maybe use the coat tree as a battering ram and get a board off."

"If the nails holding them on are mostly straight, it might work," Ryan said, grabbing the coat tree, eager to try. "If not, the effort will at least keep us warm."

"There is that," Jessie agreed.

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…...

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"They aren't here, either," Scott said, looking around the room he and Blain shared with Ryan.

"Maybe they went back to the restaurant?" Maggie suggested, but not even she really believed that was the case.

"You know Jessie," Jonny pointed out. "She won't quit until she finds a door that key card opens."

"Then perhaps," Hadji suggested, "they went to the room Jonny and I were originally intended to share."

"Why didn't we think of that before?" Jonny asked, the question rhetorical.

"Well, what are we waiting for? Let's go," Blain said, leading the way, the group walking as fast as they could without drawing too much attention from passersby.

"Look!" Jonny exclaimed a few minutes later as they neared. "The door's open!"

"Be careful," Maggie warned as he and Hadji stood on either side of the door. Hadji nodded to Jonny, who nodded back. Hadji flung the door open with his arm from the hinge side. Jonny dashed inside, flipping the light switch on, before ducking for cover inside the small closet beside the door- just in case. They all waited with bated breath for a long moment before collectively letting it out when the room proved silent and empty. A quick search turned up nothing.

"I know Jess was here," Jonny said, pointing at the door. "The deadbolt is turned. She's done that before, to keep from getting trapped."

"Well, she and Ryan aren't here now," Blain said, looking around the room.

"No telling where they went," Scott said, standing just outside the door, looking up and down the hall. "What now?"

"Now we must wait until they come back," Hadji said with a sigh.

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…...

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"On three," Jessie said, she and Ryan standing near the window facing one another, holding the coat tree between them. "One."

"Two," Ryan counted.

"Three!" they said together, swinging the coat tree into the plywood covering the window. There was a dull knock of wood on plywood, and the satisfying squeak of nails loosening from the window frame. There was now a narrow gap of waning daylight at the edge of the plywood.

"I think this is actually going to work!" Ryan enthused. "Let's hit it again. On three. One. Two. Three!" Another loud knock, more squeaking nails, and the gap of light got a little wider. Again." A third hit freed the corner of the plywood from the window frame.

"Ow, that hurt," Jessie complained, rubbing her hand on her thigh.

"Yeah," Ryan said, flexing his own hand, numbed by the recoil from the impact of coat tree on plywood. "Let's keep going." Jessie nodded. They hit it again and again, switching to the other side of the window, until the plywood fell with a soft swoosh into the snow below the window.

"Ladies first," Ryan said, lifting Jessie up to help her out the window. She held onto his hand, using her other hand to anchor herself on the window frame and her feet against the outer wall to control descent as he lowered her the six feet down to the ground.

"Let me clear this out of the way," Jessie said from the ground, grabbing the plywood and pulling it out of the way. With the threat of landing on sharp, upturned nails gone, Ryan climbed onto the window sill, then jumped down, landing softly in the deep snow. They waded through the drifts to the path. "Hold on," Jessie said, bounding up the steps to the front door instead of heading back to the lodge right away. "He threw the latch and padlocked the door," Jessie said, disgusted.

"We got out," Ryan reminded. "We won this round. Now let's get back to the lodge. We're freezing, and I don't like being so isolated out here."

"You're right," Jessie agreed, bounding down the steps and hurrying down the path to join him. "Let's go."

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…...

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"Where the heck did you two disappear to?" Jonny asked when Jessie and Ryan finally appeared. They had decided to grab some sandwiches and wait in the lobby in front of one of the big fireplaces. "You've been gone almost an hour! We were worried sick."

"Heat," Jessie sighed, she and Ryan making a beeline for the crackling fire, ignoring Jonny. "We're frozen."

"Have you been outside?" Maggie asked, incredulous. "Without coats? In this cold?"

"We were checking into this," Jessie said, fishing the key card and envelope from her back jeans pocket, tossing it into Hadji's lap. "It doesn't open the suite, or the guys' room, in case you're interested."

"We know," Blain said. "It opens Jonny and Hadji's old room."

"How'd you know?" Ryan asked, exchanging a surprised look with Jessie.

"Once we realized you skipped out on dinner, we went looking for you," Scott said.

"When we thought to check the old room, I knew you'd been there," Jonny said. "Deadbolt," he replied to Jessie's questioning look. "You've done that before." She nodded.

"You should have waited for all of us to investigate," Hadji admonished.

"No, it's good you weren't there," Jessie said with a shake of her head. She sat on the hearth, back to the heat of the fire, facing the rest of the group.

"It was a trap," Ryan said, sitting next to her. "There was someone waiting."

"He wasn't waiting for the two of us, though," Jessie continued. "He didn't do anything. Just said, 'not you!' and ran."

"The envelope has Hadji's name on it," Ryan pointed out.

"I do not like it, but I have to agree I am the likely target this time," Hadji said. It didn't escape anyone's attention that he absently rubbed the still-visible marks on his throat where someone had tried to strangle him in the men's room just twenty-four hours before.

"That doesn't explain why you were missing for an hour," Scott said after a moment.

"Well," Ryan said, "We followed the guy downstairs and outside, up along the lake to the closed-up summer cabins. He locked us in one and got away. It took us a while to get out. Had to bust out a boarded-up window."

"Way to go, Ace," Jonny said, the sarcasm evident. "You're the one who said that key card was dangerous, and you just had to go prove it, knowing there's some whack job out there trying to kill us."

"Chasing that guy outside wasn't the best idea, I'll admit," Jessie said with a glare, "but I'm glad it was us, and not Hadji, that went looking."

"Sandwiches?" Maggie offered, intervening before Jessie and Jonny really got going.

"I'm starving," Ryan said, catching on quickly, grabbing a sandwich for himself and another that he dropped into Jessie's hands.

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…...

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To be continued…

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	6. Complicated

Disclaimer: Please see chapter one.

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Warnings: Overall Rating of T.

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A Note from the Author: Posted 2-28-20 ~Sapphire

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The Real Adventures of Jonny Quest

Play Against Danger

By: Sapphire

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Chapter Six: Complicated

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…...

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Location: Kings Mountain, Vermont

Friday Evening

Maggie needed a quiet minute to herself and ended up not far from the group, standing at the floor to ceiling windows of the lobby staring at the mountain, the ski slopes glowing from the floodlights illuminating the lower runs. She would have preferred the catwalk up on the lighthouse at home, the cold wind blowing in off the wintry Atlantic, calming her as it always did. But this was Vermont. There was no lighthouse, no Atlantic. It wasn't even safe to go off on her own to find an out-of-the-way corner to sit and think.

"Hey," Scott said, walking up behind her. "Want some company?"

"I don't know," Maggie said, not even turning to look in his direction. He slipped his arms around her from behind, pulling her back to lean against him. She stood with him that way for a minute, then shrugged him off.

"Um…" Scott said quietly, "did I do something wrong?" Maggie had been so happy and carefree at the rink, and now she was distracted and anxious.

"No," she replied, not elaborating. Scott sighed inwardly.

"Well, I feel like I must have," Scott said. "Things between us were so easy this afternoon, and now you're pushing me away again. You keep running hot and cold with me, and I can't figure out why."

"I'm sorry," Maggie said, finally looking up at him. "I'm not trying to send you mixed signals. That's what I'm doing, isn't it?"

"Yeah, you are," Scott confirmed. "Look, I'm just going to cut to the chase," Scott said. "I like you. A lot. And after this afternoon at the ice rink, and that kiss in the suite, I think you like me, too. I still want a chance with you," he told her, taking her hand in his. "Remember in Montana, before we all left?" She nodded. "I think I used that cheesy old cliché, 'Say the word and I'm yours'."

"I think you did," Maggie recalled with a slight smile. Scott smiled back.

"Look, I didn't come up with this whole ski weekend idea as an excuse to win you over or anything like that, but when Jessie mentioned in an e-mail that you'd been dating, I thought maybe you'd be open to the idea of you and me," Scott explained. "It's cheesy, but it's still true: just say the word and I'm yours." Scott watched her expectantly.

"I honestly don't know what I want when it comes to you," Maggie said with a frustrated sigh. "I have been dating, but it hasn't been serious. I don't think I'm ready for serious right now, and something tells me you want more than a casual date or two."

"So that's a maybe?" Scott said hopefully.

"I wish I could answer that," Maggie said wistfully. Scott studied her for a long time as she turned to stare up at the slopes again. Her hand was still in his, which he took as a good sign, because he had a burning question to ask her and he wondered if this wasn't the moment to ask it.

"There's still that other guy, isn't there?"

"Unfortunately, yes," Maggie said, eyes still on the mountain beyond the glass.

"Unfortunately?" Scott asked, his interest suddenly piqued.

"It's complicated," Maggie replied hesitantly.

"You said that in Montana," Scott pointed out. "How complicated is complicated?" Maggie heaved a sigh and tried to pull her hand away from his. He didn't let go. "You said you loved him, and I respected that. But that was six months ago. You said yourself that you've been dating other people. I'm just trying to understand what's holding you back."

"I'm so tired of being miserable," Maggie said, a few tears tracing their way down her cheeks in the reflected light from the ski slopes. "I'm trying to let him go."

"That's why you've been dating?" Scott asked, trying to put the puzzle pieces together; things she said, all the silent little cues and clues she was giving him, things he'd picked up from correspondence over the last months, and those kisses this afternoon.

"Yes," Maggie confirmed. "I'm sick of feeling like this, but I can't just forget and move on. Do you really want to know how complicated this is?" Maggie asked. Scott nodded. "He's known me two years, made me think he cared, and then… He brought home a fiancé from overseas," Maggie told him. "He knew her less than six months and decided to marry her. Do you know how hard that was?"

"It had to be very hard," Scott said, not sure what else to say.

"I knew- _everyone_ knew- the engagement was a huge mistake," Maggie said. "He did figure it out and broke it off, but for me," Maggie continued, "I'm not the girl he chose to be with. I still don't know if I'm okay with that or not, but I don't have the luxury of distancing myself to figure it out because I have to live with the constant reminder of seeing him every single day."

"Why?" Scott asked. He thought he knew, but he wanted her to say it. "There's something between the two of you that you aren't telling me, isn't there?" he asked.

"He's a family connection," Maggie admitted. "He's working on a special project with my Uncle Benton. He's living with us, too. The project is why he came back from overseas." She looked up. "And before you ask, no, I can't cut ties with him. I'm not going to explain how or why, but I will tell you that his family adopted my brother. He and Matthew are very close, and I have to accept that he will always be there if I want my brother in my life. I need to figure out a way to live with it, and it's going to take time."

"You were right. It is complicated," Scott said when he realized she was finished.

"I'm sorry I just dumped all that on you," Maggie apologized wearily.

"Yeah," he said, thinking over everything she'd said. He was left with just one conclusion. Scott slowly lowered her hand to her side and let go. "I have to admit," he was reluctant to say, "that the rejection hurts."

"I'm sorry, Scott," Maggie said, her heart aching for him. "I'm such a mess."

"For what it's worth, I'm glad you told me," Scott said.

"For what it's worth," Maggie returned, "I wish things had been different."

"Me, too," Scott said. What else could he do? What else could he say?

"Are we still friends?" Maggie asked uncertainly.

"You have to ask?" Scott retorted. Maggie shrugged.

"I wouldn't blame you if you walked away and never looked back."

"Why? Because that's what you'd do in my place?" Scott asked.

"I would," Maggie admitted, "but I don't have that luxury with him."

"We're still friends," Scott assured her. "I'm disappointed, but I'll get over it."

"Thank-you," Maggie said earnestly. Scott just nodded, and they both turned their gazes out the window toward the mountain, standing close enough their arms touched.

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…...

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"You've spent a lot of time with Scott today. Alone," Jessie said as she, Maggie, and Jonny walked toward the restrooms off the main lobby. Maggie blushed a deep shade of pink. While Jessie's curiosity increased at that, Jonny watched Maggie with worry.

"I guess so," Maggie replied, avoiding looking at either of them. She _had_ been spending an awful lot of time with Scott. And they'd been as close as Jessie's comment had implied. Just thinking about those kisses made her blush. But Jessie and Jonny had no idea how serious their most recent conversation had been, or how jumbled Maggie's feelings were about the matter.

"The two of you have been shooting off sparks since you met in Montana," Jessie commented, watching Maggie curiously. Maggie blushed harder.

"Oh?" Jonny spoke only a single word, but it was loaded with meaning. Maggie shifted uncomfortably under his scrutinizing gaze.

"I think you like him. A lot," Jessie said with a teasing smile. "I'm pretty sure he likes you, too." Jessie glance at Jonny, expecting to see that crooked, mischievous smile of his, and was surprised to see an altogether different expression on his face. Worry. Jessie turned her gaze back to Maggie. When she looked again, really looked, she realized something was off.

"Is there something between you and Scott?" Jonny asked, his tone was almost accusing, Jessie thought, and she realized she was missing something. She wondered what Jonny knew that she didn't. "Maggie," Jonny prompted when she remained silent too long.

"It's not either of your business," Maggie finally said, "but I know you, and neither of you are going to let this go without an answer."

"True," Jonny said simply.

"Scott's great, but we're just friends," Maggie said.

"Are you sure about that?" Jonny accused. "Because it wouldn't be fair of you, considering… you know."

"Considering what?" Jessie demanded, but was ignored.

"Yes," Maggie assured, glancing up to meet Jonny's gaze briefly. "You know I wouldn't hide something like that. I told Scott a long time ago, and he knows it hasn't changed. He says he understands."

"Understands what?" Jessie asked, growing irritated at being ignored. Whatever they were talking about was important, and she hated being left in the dark.

"Good," Jonny said, relieved. "I can tell you like Scott. He really is a good guy. But you have other things to figure out. I worry about you, ya know?"

"I know," Maggie said quietly. "Don't worry."

Jessie kept looking back and forth between the cousins, her mind racing. On the surface they weren't saying much, but reading between the lines… Whatever it was, they implied it had been going on for a while. So, she thought back over the last months, to before they ever went on that trip to Montana. Maggie had been struggling emotionally since the summer. Jessie had tried to get the older girl to open up, but had to leave for college in the fall with no resolution. Returning home for the holidays, it was quickly clear that Maggie hadn't been coping well, but the only obvious strain Jessie had noticed had been between Maggie and… And then it clicked. She understood exactly what they were talking about.

"You're in love with Price, aren't you?" Jessie suddenly accused. Maggie paled. "You are!" Jessie was stunned. How had she not seen it? It explained so much about Maggie. And the implications were enough to make Jessie's head spin.

"I see I'm still an open book," Maggie sighed, tears glimmering in her eyes. Jonny gave her a sympathetic look.

"But you avoid him," Jessie said, trying to make sense of it. "I thought you didn't want him- weren't interested." Maggie was shaking her head.

"_He_ doesn't want _me_," Maggie corrected. Jessie was so stunned, she just stared at Maggie, unable to speak. "You wanted to know about me and Scott, right?" she asked, tears gathering in her eyes. "He asked me out. Twice. And I turned him down, twice. He knows there's someone else. I told him in Montana. We're just friends. Anything else is between the two of us."

"What about Price?" Jessie asked hesitantly.

"As for Price," Maggie continued, a few tears escaping, "I'm so tired of being in love by myself. I just want to be done with it." Jonny and Jessie could only watch helplessly as Maggie turned and fled.

"She doesn't see it," Jessie said, watching Maggie run up the main stairs and disappear around the corner. "Price is absolutely, madly in love with her."

"I know," Jonny said, then sighed. He'd been over this same ground before.

"I suppose Price doesn't see how she feels, either," Jessie suspected.

"No," Jonny agreed, "but that's not a surprise with the way she avoids him."

"I noticed that when I got home for Winter Break, but I assumed she knew how Price felt, but she didn't feel the same way she used to about him," Jessie said. "I thought that's why she was avoiding him."

"Nope," Jonny said with a sigh. "That started at Thanksgiving. After Claudia. But Hadji says Maggie started to change way back when Price was first dating Claudia."

"Hadji knows, too?" Jessie was annoyed.

"Yeah," Jonny admitted, "but Maggie made us promise to keep it to ourselves. We did, because Maggie started distancing herself from everyone last summer. It's worse since Thanksgiving. It's like she's suddenly afraid to let anyone too close, and we didn't want to give her a reason to push us further away."

"Even you?" Jessie was surprised. "I thought you were getting pretty close."

"Even with me she keeps a kind of distance now. Think about it, Jess," Jonny explained. "She's only known us for twenty-two months or so. Me, Dad, and Matt, we're the only family she has, but we aren't the people who loved her and raised her, and we can't replace them."

"That's Hadji talking, isn't it?" Jessie said with a knowing, faint smile.

"Yeah, but it's true," Jonny admitted. "I don't know what Claudia said to Maggie up on the lighthouse that night, but whatever it was, Maggie's now afraid she'll lose us. I think she's pushing us away because she doesn't want to get hurt again."

"Does she even realize what she's doing?" Jessie asked. Jonny shrugged.

"We don't know," he said. "Hadji and I have Maggie mostly figured out. What we can't figure out is, if Price was interested in Maggie, why did he start seeing Claudia in the first place? And now that she's gone, why is Price holding back if he loves Maggie?"

"I don't know, either," Jessie admitted with a shake of her head. "Maybe one of us should say something. If one of them doesn't do something soon, they're going to lose each other." Jonny shook his head.

"Hadji says to leave it alone, and I think he's right," Jonny confided. "If we tell Maggie how Price feels, she won't believe us. If we told Price how Maggie feels, he probably won't believe us, either. They've got to figure it out themselves."

"I think Hadji is right," Jessie said with a sigh.

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Maggie was a complete mess. She let herself into the suite, wiping tears from her face, closing the door behind her. She went into the room she shared with Jessie. She wet a washcloth in the sink in the bathroom and pressed the cold cloth to her eyes. After a few minutes she pulled the cloth away and checked the mirror. It had helped a lot.

Mentally, she debated whether she wanted to go back down to the lobby as she pulled her tear dampened sweater off. She wandered over to look out the glass double doors that led to the room's private terrace. Needing a few minutes of calm solitude, she pushed them wide open, stepping out into the cold winter air. She knew she wasn't supposed to go out there, per Race's orders, but she crossed the terrace to lean on the railing anyway. She looked out at the dark mountain range against the starlit sky, ignoring the cold that easily penetrated her green, lightweight turtleneck.

Without a hint of a warning, Maggie felt two hands reach around her. One grabbed her around the waist, the other clamped down over her nose and mouth, holding a damp cloth over them. A strange but sweet smell confronted her senses as instinct made her fight whomever was holding her. Almost instantly, the twinkling stars began to swim before her eyes. Her limbs started to become heavy and her eyelids drooped.

"_Chloroform_!" was her last conscious thought.

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He dragged his unconscious victim inside off the balcony. He didn't want this one, but the opportunity to have one less standing in his way was hard to pass up. It would be much easier if he could push her off the terrace and let her fall to her death, but he knew that would be too conspicuous. What was needed was something more…subtle? It depended upon one's definition of subtle.

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…...

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Scott looked at his watch. It had been almost twenty minutes since Jessie and Jonny had come back from the restrooms without Maggie; too long in his opinion. He especially didn't like the half answers he'd received when he asked where she'd gone. With everything that had been happening, it didn't sit well with him that she'd gone up to the suite alone. He knew she was scared, and it seemed out of character for her to suddenly run off like that. Something was up. Scott rose from his chair and headed for the stairs.

"Hey Scott, where are you going?" Blain asked, noticing his unease.

"Upstairs to find Maggie," Scott replied absently.

"Is something wrong?" Ryan called after him.

"I don't know," Scott called back, not stopping to turn, "but I'm going to find out."

"She _has_ been gone a while," Jessie said, exchanging a look with Jonny.

"I'm going, too," Jonny said, getting up to follow Scott.

"Me, too," Jessie said. Hadji exchanged looks with Ryan and Blain. Silently, they stood and followed after them.

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…...

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Scott got a prickly feeling at the back of his neck the moment he was within sight of the suite. Walking faster, alarm bells went off in his head as his nose detected the faint odor of smoke. He broke into a run. Cold fear consumed him as the scent of smoke grew slightly stronger as he neared.

"Scott!" Jonny called, "Do I smell smoke?" Scott nodded, relief flooding him as Jonny ran up to the door, key card in hand. The rest weren't far behind. Jonny swiped the key card in the reader, then turned the handle and pushed the door open. Entering the suite, the smell of smoke was stronger, and Scott was horrified when he saw wispy curls of it leaking out the top of Maggie and Jessie's bedroom door.

"Maggie!" Scott shouted at the door, banging on it with his fist when he reached it and found it locked. "Maggie! Open the door!" Silence. "Maggie!" he shouted again, knowing in his gut she was in there. "Wake up and open the door!"

"Can we get in from the terrace?" Ryan asked. "We could break the glass-"

"No, the terrace doors should be locked," Jessie said with a shake of her head, "and the glass is bullet-proof. You can't break it."

"Then we'll have to break down the door," Jonny said, stepping back.

"The door is solid oak!" Blain pointed out. Jonny ignored him and gave it a powerful kick. The satisfying sound of splintering wood cut the air. The metal latch plate held, though, so Jonny gave it a second kick. The door flew open and hazy smoke puffed out.

"Can't see through the haze of smoke," Scott choked out as he and Jessie charged into the room, holding their sleeves over their noses and mouths. "It's too dark."

"Lights don't work," Jonny reported, trying the switch, nothing happening.

"Find Maggie! I'll open the terrace doors," Jessie said. Two more steps and she went flying, tripping over something on the floor and landing sprawled, stomach down, on the carpet. From down on the floor where the air was almost breathable, she could see bright orange flames beginning to lick up the side of the far wall.

"Someone else get the terrace door!" Jessie shouted, hastening to her feet, grabbing the comforter from the bed as she raced across the room to the flames.

"Maggie!" Scott exclaimed, spotting her on the bed as the comforter was pulled off.

"Get her out of here," Ryan told him, rushing across the room to help Jessie smother the flames with the comforter while Blain went for the terrace doors. Maggie wasn't moving, so Scott scooped her up into his arms.

"I will help," Hadji said, hurrying to assist Scott by taking Maggie's legs. Jessie and Ryan had the orange flames snuffed before they were out the door. The two of them got her safely to the couch in the living room.

"I thought you said the doors were locked!" Blain exclaimed, throwing them open with ease. Cold air rushed in, the smoky haze wafting out.

"Yes!" Jonny exclaimed, light from the bathroom suddenly spilling into the smoky bedroom. "This'll help, too," he added, switching on the ventilation fan to help clear the smoke. "Is everyone okay?" he asked, stepping out of the bathroom to join the others.

"I think so," Jessie said, rubbing the heels of her hands where she'd caught herself when she fell. "I'm not sure about Maggie, though."

"Scott and Hadji got her out," Ryan said, poking the pile of scorched comforter with his foot. "Something tells me this was no accident."

"Not likely," Jessie agreed. The room was nearly clear of the smoke, but the acrid smell of it still filled the air. There was very little damage, the fire having been contained to the far wall, near the table and lamp in the corner, part of the wall and ceiling there were coated in a black film from the smoke and flames. The comforter was a total loss.

"Well, that explains why the lights didn't work," Jonny said, pointing toward the lamp on the nearest bedside table. "They're unplugged. I'm guessing you and Maggie didn't do that," Jonny said. Jessie shook her head. Jonny got down on hands and knees to closer inspect the site of the fire. Pulling back the comforter, he revealed a few shreds of partially charred yellow fabric and a partly melted lamp cord. "Weird. This lamp is still plugged in," he noted. Jonny gingerly took hold of the cord where it wasn't hot and unplugged it before he lifted it up. The wires were bare in some spots. Jessie, Blain, and Ryan bent down for a closer look. Jonny tilted the cord at another angle. At the base, near the plug, were obvious signs of cutting.

"I was right," Ryan said seriously with a disbelieving shake of his head. "This was no accident." Jessie stood up again and looked around the room, her green eyes searching carefully for anything amiss. Her gaze found Maggie's duffel bag in the middle of the floor, blocking the walkway.

"That must be what I tripped on," she said, narrowing her eyes. "But Maggie's bag shouldn't be there. It should be next to the television, beside mine." She pointed to her own duffel bag. She looked closer at the scraps of fabric by the melted lamp cord. "That was Maggie's yellow turtleneck," she said, pointing.

"Must have tampered with the fire alarm, too," Blain said. "It didn't go off."

"What's that?" Ryan asked, pointing toward the bed. He walked over, bent down, and picked something up that had been half-hidden beneath the bed skirt. He held up a white cloth for the others to see. Jessie walked over to get a better look. She leaned forward, her nose twitching as she smelled the cloth.

"Chloroform!" she exclaimed.

"I was wondering how Mags could sleep through all that," Jonny said with a scowl.

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…...

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Hadji helped Scott push the couch closer to the terrace doors, then opened them. Maggie was breathing steadily, and they hoped the fresh air would help to revive her. But the cold air did nothing to wake her. Scott stepped out onto the terrace, grabbing a handful of snow. He touched the snow to Maggie's face, hoping it would wake her. No response.

"Maggie. I am needing you to open your eyes," Hadji called to her, to no effect.

"She's not waking up," Scott said, his voice betraying his fear.

"She is not having any discernable difficulty breathing. I believe this is something other than the smoke," Hadji surmised, kneeling on the floor beside the couch. The fire was altogether too suspicious. Something happened while she was up here alone. Very gently, Hadji reached out and ran his fingers through Maggie's hair, spending a couple minutes feeling for any sign of injury to her head. There was nothing. Letting go of her, he sat back on his heels with a frustrated sigh.

"She won't wake up for a while," Jonny said, appearing from the bedroom. Blain, Jessie, and Ryan followed after him. "She was knocked out with chloroform."

"I suspected this was all deliberate," Hadji said, rising to his feet.

"Why try to kill her?" Scott asked, alarmed. "I thought she wasn't the target."

"She probably isn't," Jonny said with a sigh, "but she was up here alone. And we already know whoever is behind this doesn't care who gets hurt."

"I'm going to call Dr. Mansfield," Jessie said. "We should have him check on Maggie. And I'll ask him for some cleaning supplies. We need to make the bedroom livable again. I'm going to tell him the fire started by accident. I'll offer to pay for things that need replacing. We don't want trouble or too much attention because of this. I want to downplay it, and since there isn't much damage, I think we can get away with it." Hadji and Jonny were nodding in agreement.

"We'll downplay what happened," Ryan said, speaking for his cousin and best friend as well as himself, "as long as you think we're all still safe enough. This was the fifth attempt made on our lives."

"We shouldn't have let her come up here alone," Jonny admitted, exchanging a glance with Jessie. "If we'd just followed our own advice and stuck together, this wouldn't have happened."

"If you're sure," Blain pressed.

"We're sure," Jessie affirmed.

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…...

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To be continued…

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	7. Snow and Ice

Disclaimer: Please see chapter one.

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Warnings: Overall Rating of T.

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A Note from the Author: Posted 3-6-20 ~Sapphire

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The Real Adventures of Jonny Quest

Play Against Danger

By: Sapphire

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Chapter Seven: Snow and Ice

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…...

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Location: Kings Mountain, Vermont

Friday Night

Dr. Mansfield ordered Maggie brought down to the infirmary for the night. When she was settled in a half hour later, Dr. Mansfield told everyone who had accompanied her to go back to their rooms and get some sleep. Jonny, Hadji, and Blain reluctantly left to return to the suite to help Jessie and Ryan with the clean-up.

Scott hung back as the doctor shooed them out of the infirmary. He was hesitant to leave Maggie with only Dr. Mansfield to watch over her. What if the doctor was called away in the middle of the night? Who would protect Maggie from whoever was behind the attacks? Scott settled himself into the chair next to Maggie's bed. When the doctor returned, he started at seeing Scott. Scott gave him an obstinate look, and the doctor slowly smiled.

"I don't suppose you're going anywhere soon," he said knowingly. "Just make sure you get some sleep, too. I'll be checking on Maggie every so often. In the meantime, I'll be in my room if you or the young lady need anything." Scott nodded, and the doctor stepped through a door at the back of the infirmary that led to his quarters. Scott relaxed once the door closed behind the doctor, and he turned to watch Maggie sleep off the chloroform.

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…...

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He knew he'd dozed off when he opened his bleary eyes and looked around the dark infirmary. The dim light that had been on earlier was now off. Dr. Mansfield must have been in to check on Maggie and turned it off when he left. Scott sighed. Then he stretched his muscles, stiff from sleeping in the chair. He glanced at Maggie. She was lying so still, oblivious to everything around her, looking vulnerable in her deep sleep.

Silently, Scott got up from the chair and went around the bed. As carefully as he could, he lay down beside her, pulling the extra blanket from the end of the bed and tossing it over himself. Then, because of the narrow width of the infirmary bed, he scooted in close to her, resting one arm around her waist, and he drifted off into a contented sleep.

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…...

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It was still dark when Scott awoke. He knew it was morning, though it was really early. He was usually an early riser, waking even earlier when he was troubled. He certainly was that. The reason for his troubles? She was sleeping curled up in his arms. Scott sighed.

Yesterday she'd told him all she could give him was friendship, and he'd accepted it. He was disappointed, but he could live with that. Or so he thought. After last night, knowing she'd been completely vulnerable in the hands of a man out to kill, he couldn't fool himself anymore. He loved her, and he wanted so much more than friendship with her.

But it wasn't as simple as that. She came with a lot of baggage, and a broken heart. His head told him to walk away, but his heart wouldn't let him. It was ironic, because that was her situation with the other guy.

As he lay there holding her, he tried to pare the problem down to its simplest aspects. First the baggage. She had lost her parents, been taken in by distant relatives she didn't know, and reconnected with her brother who had apparently been adopted by another family. All in a relatively short span of time. He didn't know the story behind any of it, but he did know she was still working through all of it. She just needed time and support. Second was her broken heart. Maggie said she was working to move past it, and Scott believed her. He knew she was smart, brave, and determined to put it behind her. She'd manage it, given time.

And there it was. It all boiled down to time. The question was, could he give that to her? Could he wait for her, maybe for years, until she figured it all out?

Maggie started to mumble in her sleep, fidgeting restlessly. Her mumbles were incoherent, but she seemed troubled. Scott realized she was finally waking up when her eyelashes started fluttering as she tried to open her eyes.

"Come on, Maggie, you can do it," Scott encouraged. "Open your eyes." It took a minute, but here eyes finally opened. She looked up at him, obviously disoriented as she looked around the room, her hand clutching his arm like he was anchoring her to reality.

"Scott?" she said, recognizing him at once. "Where am I?" She knew her words were slurred, but she was understandable. Suddenly she remembered the chloroform. She tried to get up. Scott caught her by the arms before she fell out of bed, and pulled her close next to him.

"Just relax," Scott said soothingly. Maggie nodded, settling back into his arms.

"What are you doing?" she suddenly demanded, trying to pull away in the small space, realizing they were in bed. Together. Clearly the chloroform hadn't completely worn off yet if it took her so long to notice.

"I'm sorry," Scott said, backing away a little. She just stared at him, confused and unsure. "It's just, the chair was uncomfortable, and…" He paused when her confusion grew. He sighed. "Do you remember what happened last night?" Maggie thought about that for a moment. Her memory was so fuzzy.

"I remember going up to the suite," she said. "I…went out on the terrace," she admitted, eyes lowering. "I know someone grabbed me. And then everything went fuzzy. I think I smelled chloroform. I don't remember much after that." Her eyes slowly looked up to his.

"They set fire to your room," Scott said, not sure there was an easier way to break it to her. "They left you in there. I found you on the bed. You could have died." Her eyes were wide in shock. "No one else was hurt. Dr. Mansfield let me stay with you last night. I just wanted to protect you." He slid close to her again and slid his arms back around her. "I know I said we could just be friends, and we will, but it's not like I can just turn my feelings off overnight. Let me stay with you a little longer. Please?"

"What about mixed messages?" Maggie asked.

"This one's all on me," Scott said, resting his cheek against the top of her head as she slowly relaxed back into him. "You didn't crawl into my bed. I crawled into yours."

What he said was true, but he hadn't missed how comfortable she'd been in his arms before she realized where they were. He wasn't imagining it now. There was definitely something between them, and it had been there from the start. Maybe she wasn't ready to acknowledge it, but she definitely felt it. He knew because when he gently tilted her face up to his, she didn't resist. Nor did she refuse when he gave her the chance before he leaned down and kissed her.

His mind was made up. He could be very patient when he wanted to be. He'd wait for her, because he knew whatever this was between them, it wasn't going to go away. He'd be her friend as long as she needed him to be if it meant he might have this, and more, in the future. Maybe it wouldn't work out in the end, but he was willing to accept the risk because he owed it to himself to follow his heart wherever it led. And right now, all his heart wanted was Maggie.

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"Let's try to relax today," Ryan suggested once they were all gathered in the lobby. Dr. Mansfield had checked Maggie over when he came on duty, then let her go with a clean bill of health. It had taken a while to track everyone down and gather together, but here they were. "I think it's safe to say we're all tired of skiing in a big pack." There were weary sighs and nods of agreement.

"It would be hard to stick together today, anyway," Scott agreed. "Being Saturday, the slopes will be loaded with day pass skiers."

"It is Saturday, isn't it?" Blain said with some surprise. "It feels like we've been here too long and not long enough at the same time. It's hard to keep track."

"So, what were you thinking we'd do instead?" Jessie asked Ryan. Ryan gave her a bright grin.

"I was hoping someone would ask," he said. "The lodge has lots of organized activities on Saturdays, and a bonfire by the lake on Saturday nights. We should be safe enough in a crowded public space. We can finally relax. And I thought we might have fun with the activities. Maybe we could do the snowman contest."

"I'm game," Blain said with a grin. "But I'm not responsible for lousy workmanship or random snowballs. Just to let you know." The joke was just what was needed to lighten the mood.

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…...

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The rules were simple: build your snowman on the lake around the ice rink, and have it completed before judging at five o'clock when the bonfire was scheduled to begin. Jessie, Hadji, and Scott volunteered to help Ryan with his sunbathing snowman reclining on a lounge chair sculpted in snow. Jonny, thanks to his competitive streak, got into the spirit of the contest and had Blain and Maggie working hard on his idea to build a snowman on real skis holding real poles. The skis made it problematic as the snowman kept sliding on its precarious perch, but that just added to the laughs. True to his words, Blain did lob more than a few snowballs, and the snowman building was interrupted periodically by intense snow fights and much laughing. They took several breaks for hot chocolate, too. And one for lunch, of course.

Finishing with the snowmen well before five, they tackled the sliding hill that sloped from the parking lot reserved for non-lodging guests down toward the lake, on the far side of the warming house. The fluffy snow that had fallen the night before was packed and smooth on the hill, making the trip down faster and more exciting. As a grand finale, the seven of them attempted to take the hill holding hands in a line stretched across the face of the hill, but they crashed at the bottom, laughing. By late afternoon, as lodge guests began to gather for the bonfire, they were feeling much more relaxed after their day of fun.

"Look," Maggie said as they skirted the edge of the frozen lakeshore, her eyes focused on the ice rink, the firelight of tiki torches, a dozen campfires, and the blazing bonfire dancing on the smooth ice. "I should have brought my skates."

"Why? So, you can show off in front of a bigger audience?" Scott teased, reminding her of the previous afternoon. Maggie laughed, a faint blush staining her cheeks.

"I don't think that's why they have the rink lit up," Jessie said, interrupting them. "Look over there," she said, pointing to a lodge employee dragged a large bin full of equipment out of the warming house and onto the ice. "It looks like they're planning to have broomball."

The group wandered around the bonfire area. Many smaller campfires were lit along the lakeshore for guests to enjoy. There were people milling around the entire area, laughing, singing, and toasting marshmallows and franks on long sticks. There were stands set up with lodge staff handing out hot coffee, cider, and cocoa. Strings of colorful paper lanterns glowed between them. Music playing on outdoor loudspeakers completed the festive atmosphere.

"I'm hungry," Blain said, eyeing the food stands. His stomach grumbled loud enough for the others to hear, much to their amusement.

"I'm with you," Jonny said as the group gravitated toward the small campfire closest to the warming house. It was farther away from the stands handing out food, but the small building acted as a break for the light wind. They claimed it as their own. "Let's go get some supper." The two of them were gone only a few minutes, and returned bearing a tray with hot dogs, buns, condiments, a bag of marshmallows, a box of graham crackers, chocolate bars, and some toasting forks.

"This is oddly familiar," Ryan commented as they crowded around the fire, holding roasting forks loaded with goodies.

"Except we're not cooking fish," Maggie said, which caused a few laughs.

"I can't stand fish anymore," Ryan confessed. "Not since the trip. I used to love it."

"I don't eat fish much anymore, either," Jessie admitted with a rueful laugh.

"Me either," Maggie, Blain, and Scott chimed in. They all laughed.

"I don't suppose anyone would want to go on another camping trip this summer, would they?" Scott asked. Blain and Maggie threw a few marshmallows at him in response. The others laughed. "Well, I tried," Scott said with a grin. "But we really should plan something. Before our summers are completely booked. Mine's already filling up."

When their supper was hot, they sat in a row on some benches lined up against the side of the warning house, just barely within the reach of the campfire's heat. Talking ceased, due in part to supper, pondering possible trips, and memories of those days in the Rockies the summer before.

Because of the lull in conversation, Jonny was able to hear a soft, almost inaudible noise that rather sounded like an idling engine. True, the parking lot was up the hill above them on the other side of the warming house, but with the warming house wall behind them the sound could be bouncing at them from anywhere.

"What is that?" Blain asked, suddenly hearing it, too.

"It's getting louder," Maggie noted uneasily. Hadji got up and walked forward a few yards, wondering if he could figure out what it was. Suddenly chaos broke out among the crowd gathered about the lakeshore for the festivities. A man was waving wildly at them from another campfire, and others were screaming and shouting, fleeing the area, running for the lodge.

"Hadji?" Jessie asked, but none of them had time to react. The engine noise had grown to a roar, and there was a crunching sound, like tires on snow. Then all the noise was drowned out by a horrible crash and the warming house behind them gave a mighty shudder as something quite large hit the other side.

Two clumps of snow fell from the middle of the roof, hitting Jonny and Maggie on their heads. All eyes looked up. The snow piled on top of the warming house roof was moving! The heat inside the poorly insulated structure had loosened the load of snow above, the impact of the crash had broken up the ice dams. All the heavy snow and ice was sliding, tipping over the edge, right onto their heads.

"Look out!" Ryan shouted, grabbing Jessie, dragging her to the ground, trying to pull her away from the danger.

He was too late. So were the others, despite attempts to escape. Hundreds of pounds of heavy snow and hard chunks of ice crashed down on them. Hadji threw himself out of the way, unable to help. When the snow and ice stopped dumping down on them, Ryan began digging himself and Jessie out of the snow. They had been lucky, only becoming partially buried. Ryan had managed to pull them away from the worst of it. Hadji was already starting to dig the others out.

"Hadji, we've got this," Jessie said as she and Ryan pulled free of the snow. "Go see what happened." Hadji gave her a nod, then raced around the warming house to the other side. He blanched at the sight that greeted him. A half-ton pickup was buried in the wall of the warming house, the engine still running.

"There was no one driving that truck!" Hadji heard a guest ranting at an unfortunate lodge employee. "No one was driving, and I swear it was heading straight for the warming house as it came down the hill from the parking lot!" Hadji's eyes followed two parallel furrows in the snow from the pickup's rear tires right up to the parking lot at the top of the hill. He shook his head. They were lucky the truck had only crashed through one of the warming house walls, and not two. He climbed up into the wreckage to investigate further.

It was equally lucky no one had been inside the warming house when the pickup had crashed. Someone could have been seriously hurt, or killed. He picked his way through the debris carefully, making his way to the driver's door. There was no one in the driver's seat. The keys were in the ignition, and the pickup was in neutral. Someone had let gravity do all the work. Except for the steering. The wheel was locked in place with an anti-theft club and rope. Hadji thought he'd found everything of consequence he was going to find, but he decided to look over the area one last time, just in case, before returning to the others.

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As Hadji disappeared around the side of the warming house, Jessie and Ryan hurried to help whoever was under some shifting snow. It was Scott. Working together, Ryan and Jessie were able to free him in a minute. Scott crawled out as soon as he was relieved of the pressing weight of the wet, heavy snow. He had acquired a few bruises, but it was nothing compared to what it could have been.

"I think-" Scott said, wiping snow from his eyes, "I think Maggie is under the snow next to me somewhere. Jonny was on the other side of her." What he didn't say was that the two of them had been sitting under the midpoint of the warming house's roof, and they had gotten the worst of it. He and Jessie started digging.

"Blain was on the end," Ryan said, clambering through the snow to start searching there. After some frantic digging, Ryan had Blain partly unburied. "You okay?"

"I'm fine," Blain answered. "I covered my head and just let it fall on me. Only bruises, I think." Just then, Scott found Maggie, uncovering her head and shoulders.

"Are you hurt?" Scott asked, bending down close to her. She was stuck lying on her side, facing him, her eyes blinking rapidly as she tried to get the snow out. "Here, close your eyes," Scott said. He removed his glove and wiped the cold snow away.

"The snow is heavy," she said, looking up at him. "I don't think anything is broken. Just bruised. I think some ice hit my knee."

"Just lay still. I'll get you out," Scott said. She nodded. "Stay back!" Scott shouted at some lodge guests who had come to help. "Just give us some room. We've got it." The guests nodded, backing off, and took on the job of keeping other people away from the scene. Ryan and Blain both joined Jessie in searching for Jonny. He was the only one still unaccounted for.

"He's here!" Ryan shouted, finding a boot attached to a leg. Digging furiously through the packed snow, he, Blain, and Jessie managed to get him uncovered in a minute. Unlike the rest of them, he was lying with his head away from the warming house, like he'd been knocked forward instead of backward.

"Jonny's hurt!" Jessie exclaimed, uncovering his face and head. "We need Dr. Mansfield!" Maggie struggled free of the rest of the snow encasing her with Scott's help and dropped down into the snow beside Jonny, facing Jessie. Jessie pulled her hand away from the back of Jonny's head, her glove covered in snow stained with blood. "Ice, probably," Jessie surmised, worry etched into her expression.

"Jonny, can you hear me?" Maggie asked, voice raised, bending close to his ear. He didn't answer. "Jonny?" She exchanged a worried glance with Jessie.

"I have an idea," she said, leaning down until her face was close to Jonny's. "Hey, Hotshot," she taunted. "I'm about to kick your butt and win at Maze Demons." His eyelids started to flicker a little.

"No…" Jonny groaned. Jessie sat back, smiling.

"He's so predictable," she said, making Maggie laugh a little.

"Clear the way. Out of the way, folks." Dr. Mansfield was pushing his way through the crowd toward them. He got down on his knees in the snow beside Maggie, Jessie, and Jonny. With the ease of repeated practice, he checked Jonny over with meticulous care. "Just a concussion, I believe," Dr. Mansfield finally pronounced. "Let's get this young man up to the lodge to the infirmary. I can give him better care there than down here in the snow." Jonny was loaded onto a stretcher, more alert, but disoriented. Two members of the ski patrol took the stretcher for Dr. Mansfield. That's when Hadji reappeared.

"Hadji, what crashed into the warming house?" Jessie asked as he joined them.

"A pick-up truck," Hadji said grimly. "Definitely deliberate." The rest of the group stared at him, stunned. "We should discuss this later," Hadji pointed out. "For now, let us focus on Jonny."

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…...

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"You, young man, have a mild concussion," Dr. Mansfield pronounced. "You'll need to stay here overnight so I can keep an eye on you." Jonny let out a weary sigh.

"Do you think he should be taken to the hospital?" Jessie asked from the high examination table a few feet away where she waited for the doctor to look at her ankle. She had limped half way to the lodge before anyone had noticed she was hurt, then Ryan had given her a piggyback the rest of the way to the infirmary. Ryan and the rest were crowded in the doorway to the infirmary waiting room, watching.

"No," Dr. Mansfield said with a shake of his head. "I was very thorough when I checked him over. I need to keep him here because he needs to be woken periodically through the night, and should be under doctor supervision. Should any complications arise, I will, of course, make sure he gets appropriate treatment here or at the hospital."

"I think I'm in for a rough night," Jonny said with a grimace.

"That you are," Dr. Mansfield agreed with a chuckle. He turned to Jessie. "Let's see about that ankle," he said. Jessie patiently sat through the examination as he poked and prodded. "Mild sprain," Dr. Mansfield pronounced. "I'm going to wrap it and give you some crutches to use. Stay off it," he warned. "I also want you to put ice on it when needed, no more than twenty minutes at a time. I understand you're headed home tomorrow. I recommend you both get checked out by your regular physician at your earliest convenience."

"Yes, sir," Jessie said for both of them while Dr. Mansfield wrapped her ankle.

"As for the rest of you," Dr. Mansfield said, turning to the crowd in the doorway. "Is there anything else that needs my attention?"

"Maggie, your knee?" Scott asked when no one else spoke.

"It's fine. Just a bruise. It doesn't hurt at all when I walk," she said. "Uncle Benton is such a worry wort he'll probably make me go see my doctor anyway, but it's fine, really."

"In that case," Dr. Mansfield said, "I think it's time all of you go back to your rooms." He turned to Jessie. "You could use some rest, young lady." Jessie smiled and thanked him, then let Ryan help her off the exam table while Dr. Mansfield fetched the crutches for her. Everyone said goodnight to Jonny, thanked Dr. Mansfield, then headed for the suite. They made it to the lobby before Jessie remembered she'd left her jacket in the infirmary.

"I'll go back with you to get it," Ryan volunteered, waving the rest on to the suite.

"Wait out here in the hall," Jessie said once they reached the infirmary. "It's just inside the waiting area. I'll sneak in quick and grab it. I'll only be a minute."

"Sure," Ryan agreed. He leaned casually against the wall, hands in his pockets, while Jessie let herself into the infirmary, leaving the crutches against the wall beside Ryan. Jessie limped her way over to the bench where her jacket had been tossed aside earlier. She could hear Dr. Mansfield talking in the examination room, but she couldn't make out what he was saying until she neared the bench.

"I imagine you're wondering about my little deception," Dr. Mansfield was saying. Jessie paused as she stooped to retrieve her jacket. Deception? What was he talking about? "You people have the most amazing dumb luck," he commented. "I've been working tirelessly, trying to set up the perfect accident for young Mr. Singh, but he always seems to escape- when the rest of you don't inadvertently get in the way, that is." Jessie's mouth dropped open.

"What the hell are you talking about?" Jonny's voice reached her. He sounded confused. Jessie didn't blame him. Just what was going on?

"At this point it seems unlikely I'll succeed with that part of my plan. To pursue my intentions toward Mr. Singh would be foolish now that I have my main objective in hand," Dr. Mansfield said. Jessie slowly crept toward the exam room doorway. She could see Jonny slowly sitting up on the bed, holding a hand to his head, dizzy from the concussion. Dr. Mansfield was standing at a counter, his back to Jonny, concealing what he was doing from her best friend. But Jessie could see exactly what he was doing.

"No!" she exclaimed as she burst through the archway. Both Jonny and Dr. Mansfield were surprised, to say the least. Before she could utter another sound, Dr. Mansfield came at her with the syringe she had glimpsed. Jessie yelped as he grabbed her and the needle pierced her skin.

"Jessie!" Jonny exclaimed, managing to get to his feet.

"What did you just give me?" Jessie demanded, her fear overpowering any potential effects from the injection just yet.

"Not poison, if that's what you were afraid of," Dr. Mansfield replied, pulling her arm and forcing her toward the examination table. "It's a common sedative, it will make you sleep." He watched Jonny wearily, still holding the syringe.

"What are you going to do with her?" Jonny asked, noticing Jessie's movements were becoming sluggish. She was fighting the drug, though.

"Nothing. I don't need her," Dr. Mansfield said. "I just want you, Mr. Quest."

"What do you want with Jonny?" Jessie asked, having a hard time wrapping her mind around what was being said. It was the sedative, she was sure.

"I don't suppose it will do any harm in telling you," Dr. Mansfield shrugged. "I'm taking what should have been mine," he said simply.

"I don't follow," Jonny said, exchanging a confused look with Jessie.

"She should have been my wife. Her son should have been my son," Dr. Mansfield said. "I can't have her back, because he killed her. I wanted him to feel the same pain I did by killing something dear to him: a son. That's why I wanted Mr. Singh, but I know I can't make that happen now. But he will pay a price. Here sits the other son, _her_ son, the one that should have been mine. You'll come with me. Benton Quest will never see you again, and I will have the only thing left of her."

"What the hell?" Jonny was stunned. "All this, everything that's been going on, it's all because you're obsessed with my _mom_? My dad didn't kill her!"

"Get your hands off me," Jessie snapped at Dr. Mansfield, pulling her arm from his grasp with a violent jerk. She didn't, couldn't, understand what Dr. Mansfield was saying thanks to the drug in her system, but she did understand Jonny's fury and revulsion. She didn't want Dr. Mansfield touching her anymore. She staggered away from him, her whole body feeling heavy and numb. Dr. Mansfield laughed.

"You're trying to escape me in your condition? How far do you think you're going to get?" the doctor asked as she steadied herself with a desperate grip on the exam table.

Focusing his attention on her turned out to be a mistake. Jonny launched himself at Dr. Mansfield, taking advantage of the diversion Jessie had created, purposefully or inadvertently. His head felt light and dizzy, throbbed in fact, but there was nothing the matter with him otherwise. He crashed bodily into the doctor, knocking him to the ground in a tackle, grabbing for the syringe and managing to wrench it out of Mansfield's hand. The syringe was tossed to the far side of the room, just past the second of the three infirmary beds.

"Hold him!" Ryan shouted, suddenly appearing.

"I forgot you were out in the hall," Jessie managed to say, though it was difficult to force her mouth to form the words.

"Stay there, Jessie," Ryan said as he ran past her toward the infirmary's medical supplies. His impatience waiting for Jessie had driven him to come see what was keeping her, and he'd hung back out of sight in the waiting area when he realized there was trouble, waiting for the right moment. This had been it. Jonny held tight to the doctor while Ryan rummaged around until he found what he was looking for. "We can tie him up with this," he said, holding up some first-aid tape.

"No!" Dr. Mansfield hollered, cuffing Jonny in the side of the head.

"Ah!" Jonny shouted, his throbbing head reeling, dizziness overwhelming him. Next thing he knew, he was sprawled on the floor, Dr. Mansfield standing over him, gun in hand, pointing it at Ryan. Ryan was frozen where he stood.

"Jonny…" Jessie mumbled, catching both Ryan and Jonny's attention. She was sliding down against the exam table, collapsing to the floor. With a gun pointed at Ryan, no one else moved. "C-can't st-stay 'wake…" she said, still fighting the sedative.

"It's okay, Jess, I've got this," Jonny said reassuringly, though he didn't feel confident at all. Jessie's eyes focused on him for a moment, then the sedative took control, and Jessie was out.

"You," Dr. Mansfield said, staring at Ryan. "Very slowly, I want you to sit next to the girl." Ryan nodded, keeping his hands up, taking slow and deliberate steps until he was next to Jessie. "Sit." Ryan did. "Now give young Mr. Quest the tape and hold out your hands. He's going to bind your wrists for me." Ryan exchanged a look with Jonny, who gave him a nearly imperceptible nod. Ryan trusted that Jonny knew what he was doing.

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…...

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To be continued…

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	8. End Game

Disclaimer: Please see chapter one.

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Warnings: Overall Rating of T.

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A Note from the Author: Posted 3-6-20 This is the final chapter for "Play Against Danger." Thank-you so much for reading! I hope you enjoy the last chapter of this installment. Installment #7 is written, but still needs some basic editing. I'm not sure when I'll begin posting it. I'm considering a title change for it. I'm not sure which month to place it in the arc timeline (it is currently set in February, but I think March or April might be better, and that will actually mean changing a few minor things). I also want to be farther along in the writing process for installment #8 before I start posting. I can't predict when I will get to any of it, because I'm working on other projects at the moment. As always, it will get done when it gets done. :) Thank-you again! ~Sapphire

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The Real Adventures of Jonny Quest

Play Against Danger

By: Sapphire

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Chapter Eight: End Game

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…...

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Location: Kings Mountain, Vermont

Saturday Evening

"How long does it take to get a coat?" Maggie complained, pacing back and forth in the living room of the suite.

"Not this long," Blain said.

"I have a bad feeling," Maggie said.

"I believe I am sharing your bad feeling," Hadji admitted.

"Let's go," Scott said, tired of sitting there, following Maggie with his eyes as she continued to pace. He got up, grabbed Maggie's hand, and headed for the door. "Coming?" he tossed over his shoulder at the other two. They quickly followed after him.

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…...

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Jonny hated letting a lunatic move him from one location to another, but he had to get Dr. Mansfield away from Jessie. In a drug-induced sleep, there was no way for her to defend herself. Ryan, too, was expendable as far as Dr. Mansfield was concerned. The only person who was remotely safe, was himself. Jonny was betting on it. All he had to do was find a way out of this…

"Zachary! I'm speaking to you!" Dr. Mansfield shouted. Jonny was pulled from his thoughts by the pounding in his head the shout caused, looking around, but no one else was outside behind the staff wing of the lodge.

"Who's Zachary?" Jonny asked, wincing until his headache eased to a dull throb.

"You are, Zachary," Dr. Mansfield said, irritated. "Haven't you been listening?"

"It's hard to concentrate," Jonny said. "My head hurts."

"Then I will repeat," Dr. Mansfield said. "She should have been mine. You should have been mine. Now I'm setting things to rights, and you are where you belong. Zachary is your rightful name. It may seem odd to you at first, but I have things that will help you acclimate." Jonny stared at Dr. Mansfield in disbelief. His stomach was churning, thanks to the things the doctor was saying. What the hell was he planning to do?

"I think I'm gonna be sick," Jonny said.

"It's the concussion," Dr. Mansfield said. "Don't worry. I'll take care of you, son." Jonny felt the hair on the back of his neck rise. He was no son of the lunatic.

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…...

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"Wait," Maggie said, stopping so abruptly in the middle of the hall Hadji ran into her.

"What?" Scott asked, looking back. They were almost to the infirmary at the far end of the staff wing.

"I swear I saw Jonny," Maggie said, pointing toward a door down a narrow offshoot hallway from the main. "He just walked past the glass door. Outside."

"But… he's supposed to be resting in the infirmary," Blain said.

"I know," Maggie said, running for the door.

"I have a very bad feeling about this," Hadji said, chasing after her. Maggie reached the door first, pushing it open and rushing out into the cold. She looked right, the direction she'd seen him walking, and there he was. She opened her mouth to call out, but froze.

"Shhh!" she hissed as the others caught up with her, pushing them back into the door's alcove, heart pounding. Her expression was horrified as she looked up at the others. "It is Jonny. Dr. Mansfield is with him, and he has a gun."

"No way," Blain breathed. He snuck a look around the corner. "He does. Was he the one behind all the attacks?"

"It would seem so," Hadji said, before taking a quick look himself.

"They're headed for the staff parking lot," Blain said after another peek. "Slowly."

"The concussion must be slowing Jonny down," Maggie said. "Anyone have a plan?"

"Maybe," Scott said, thinking fast. "Come on. We need to use another door. Fast." He yanked the side door open and ran back inside. The others followed, hoping he knew what he was doing.

"Care to explain the plan?" Blain asked as they ran.

"We have to get ahead of them," Scott called back. "Mansfield thinks we're up in the suite. He won't be expecting us. I'm hoping we have the element of surprise."

"You are planning another ambush," Hadji said, understanding.

"The main doors to the staff parking lot are over this way," Scott explained. "We can cut Mansfield off at the corner of the building before he reaches the lot. He won't even know we're there. Two of us need to get a line of sight on Mansfield. That's Blain and Maggie. Probably hide between some cars. Hadji and I will wait at the corner of the building. We need a signal when Mansfield reaches us, and we need a distraction, too. With his attention on you two, Hadji and I will disarm the bastard and take him down."

"We will have to make it work," Hadji said. "We're here." They slowed as they reached the doors. "I will not allow him to take my brother."

"Absolutely not," Maggie agreed as they exited the building. "Come on, Blain. Let's go." Blain nodded, following her as she slipped between the parked cars, ducking low to keep out of sight. Luck was with them. A ski patrol SUV was parked on the yellow no parking stripes right where the sidewalk Dr. Mansfield and Jonny were using dumped into the parking lot. Passing behind it, they went unseen, and found a position two cars down. Keeping low, they looked back toward the building. Scott and Hadji were standing with backs to the wall, eyes on her and Blain, waiting. Maggie shook her head. Not yet. Jonny and Dr. Mansfield were still too far away.

"Did you have a certain distraction in mind?" Blain whispered.

"No, why?" Maggie returned.

"I think I've got one," Blain said with a slow smile, lifting up a forgotten tire iron he'd just found partially under the car they hid behind. "How about a car alarm?"

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…...

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"Easy, Zachary," Dr. Mansfield said as Jonny stumbled along the last few yards of sidewalk to the parking lot. He was dizzy from the concussion, but not that dizzy at the moment. No, Jonny was doing his best to stall. Dr. Mansfield caught his arm to steady him. Jonny had hoped he'd pocket the gun, but no dice. "We're almost to the car."

"I'm gonna be sick," Jonny said, meaning it, because not only was his time running out, but a wave of dizziness hit him hard. He stumbled forward toward a trash can across the sidewalk from the corner of the building, reaching it just as he started to wretch. Jonny's stomach heaved twice, and then pain exploded in his head at the sound of breaking glass and the shrill scream of a car alarm. Nausea instantly forgotten, Jonny clutched his head between his hands and crumpled to the cold sidewalk.

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…...

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"Go!" Scott mouthed at the sound of breaking glass and car alarm. It was a brilliant distraction. Between Jonny vomiting and the car alarm, Dr. Mansfield didn't know what hit him. Hadji raced ahead, grabbing Dr. Mansfield's arm, wrenching his wrist until the gun fell to the sidewalk with a clatter. Scott kicked it away, then kicked out at Mansfield's knees, downing him. He and Hadji were instantly on him, pinning him to the frozen sidewalk.

"No! No! Where did you come from?! How are you here?!" Dr. Mansfield screeched.

"We've got him," Scott said as Blain ran up to help. "You go call the police." Blain nodded, then ran for the doors to find a phone.

"Jonny!" Maggie dropped her knees next to Jonny. "I've got you!" she exclaimed softly, sliding her arm around his shoulders and pulling him upright a little so she could cradle him to her. "Your poor head. That alarm must be killing you," Maggie empathized.

"Maggie, get him inside, away from the car alarm," Scott said as the commotion began to draw a crowd. She nodded, pulling Jonny more upright.

"We must search Dr. Mansfield. Check for additional weapons," Hadji said. "I will hold him. You search." Scott nodded.

"Come on, Jonny," Maggie encouraged. "You'll feel better when we get away from that noise."

"Can't think straight," Jonny mumbled as Maggie got him to his feet. He leaned heavily against her as they headed for the doors, the gathering crowd parting to let them pass. "Jess-" Jonny suddenly blurted out. "Infirmary."

"Let's go," Maggie said, hurrying him up as they passed through the doors. Once inside, the sound of the alarm was much reduced. The pain in Jonny's head eased. After just a few steps, it was Maggie who had to keep up with Jonny, and not the other way around.

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…...

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Ryan kicked hard. First-aid tape was strong, especially with the amount Dr. Mansfield had made Jonny use, but Ryan was determined and this time the tape gave with a tear. He'd already broken the tape holding his wrists to the heavy exam table, and now his legs were free. Now to cut the tape bindings at his ankles and wrists.

Jonny had tried to make the bindings loose, but Mansfield had caught on and made Jonny wrap the tape tighter. That made Ryan's job harder as he rolled across the floor to the cabinets where he'd found the tape earlier. There was a pair of scissors there, he remembered, and probably other useful things.

A glance at the clock told him too much time had passed. Mansfield could be long gone with Jonny by now. But Ryan still had to try. Heaving himself up using the counter's edge for leverage, he managed to get himself up onto his knees. It was enough to see what was available on the counter. He grabbed the scissors in one hand, then sat on the floor, leaning forward with a bit of an upper body twist, and cut the bindings on his ankles. One problem down! He was trying to get a blade of the scissors under the tape around his wrists when the outer door to the infirmary flew open.

"Jessie! Ryan! Are you in here?" It was Maggie. She and Jonny came running in through the door from the waiting area.

"Am I glad to see you!" Ryan exclaimed, dropping the scissors. Jonny went straight to Jessie, slipping an arm under her shoulders and pulling her up so her head was resting in his lap. He pressed two fingers to the side of her neck, then slumped back against the side of the exam table in relief, finding her pulse strong and steady.

"I'll do that," Maggie said, going to Ryan. She picked up the scissors and snipped through the tape around his wrists.

"I was almost free," Ryan said as the last swaths of tape were severed. "How'd Jonny get away from Mansfield?"

"Later," Maggie said. "When we're all safely in the suite, we'll talk. Right now, let's just get you, Jonny, and Jessie out of here." She glanced over at Jessie and Jonny. "What happened to Jessie?"

"Some kind of sedative," Ryan replied with a shake of his head. "I don't know how much he gave her, or even what it was, exactly. The syringe he used is over there on the other side of the second bed." He got up off the floor and walked around the beds and bent to pick up the syringe. "Should we take it with us?" he asked, examining it.

"It might be helpful," Maggie said with a nod. "I'll take it," she said, "You're going to have your hands full carrying Jessie." Ryan handed it to her then went to get Jessie. "Come on, let's get out of here."

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…...

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After dealing with the police, a trip to the hospital was in order. Jonny was checked over and released. Jessie was kept longer. While they waited, Jonny, Hadji, and Maggie put in a call to Dr. Quest and Race at their Chicago hotel, telling them everything. They weren't happy, and not because they were left handling the fallout.

"We should be angry with you kids," Dr. Quest's voice came through the receiver. "I remember Wednesday night, Race and I expressly told you to come home if anything else happened."

"Except we did precisely what you would have done," Hadji said.

"Eliminated the threat instead of running away," Jonny finished.

"In two weeks, all of you will be over eighteen, and we can't make decisions for you anymore," Race allowed, "but we _can_ lecture some sense into you. Just wait until you kids get home." He laughed at the groans that ensued.

"We worry about you," Dr. Quest reminded them. "In the end, we're just glad you're all okay. Let us know when Jessie's awake, will you?" They promised they would call. It took a few hours before Jessie was awake and alert. Doctors gave her a clean bill of health before releasing her.

It was nearing midnight before everyone was safely ensconced in the Quest's suite. Jonny and Jessie were squashed together on the sofa, Hadji on the other side of Jonny, and Ryan on the other side of Jessie. Scott and Blain had an easy chair each. Maggie was perched on the arm of Scott's chair, closest to the lit fireplace.

"So, Hadji was the target of the attacks all along," Scott said thoughtfully. "But… Jonny was the one standing in front of the window the first night."

"Hadji said it himself that night, when we found the spot Mansfield hid. You could see the chair Hadji had been sitting in," Maggie told them. "We just didn't realize how significant that was at the time."

"But he was aiming for Jonny on the slopes Thursday morning," Blain said.

"Hadji was coming down the slope right behind me," Jonny reminded. "We just assumed it was me because I got to the bottom first."

"It seemed logical that Jonny was the main target," Hadji said, rubbing his bruised neck, "until this happened. However, I was the last one in the restroom, which could mean I was a convenient victim."

"But Jonny had to be the target that afternoon when we crashed," Scott said. "I know Ryan and I were the ones to get the worst of that, but it would be easy to confuse me for Jonny, just like Maggie said."

"I don't think that was meant to kill me," Jonny said. "Mansfield was trying to kidnap me, as best as I can tell. It would have been easier if I was laid up with an injury. Harder for me to fight back."

"That makes sense," Jessie said. "The sedative was meant for Jonny, not for me. I just got in the way. Mansfield would have had hours to do who knows what with him. The crash would have had the same result if Jonny ended up in the infirmary."

"We'll never know who the target was the day we botched that ambush," Ryan said. "We spotted him before he could make a move, at least."

"The trap with the key card was definitely meant for Hadji, though," Jessie said. "I'm still glad it was only Ryan and I that stumbled into that."

"What I don't get is why he targeted Maggie with the fire," Scott said. "That doesn't make sense at all unless he was up to something else entirely and stumbled onto her, all alone." No one had a better explanation. "I'm glad I stayed with her in the infirmary that night, though. Who knows what Mansfield would have done to her otherwise?"

"Thanks for that," Maggie said. Scott reached up and squeezed her hand before letting go. "By that point I don't think he cared who he had to eliminate to get to Jonny and Hadji," she surmised. "The truck in the warming house was proof enough of that."

"That had to be spur-of-the-moment," Blain said. "He couldn't have planned it."

"I agree," Hadji said, "but I wonder, had we chosen another campfire, would he still have done it? And if so, without the warming house to shield us from the truck, it could have ended much worse. Perhaps we were lucky."

"I wouldn't call what happened 'luck' at all," Ryan said. "More like creepy. I heard that stuff Mansfield said in the infirmary, about the wife and son he thought should have been his. It made the hairs on the back of my neck stand on end."

"What exactly was he saying?" Jessie asked. "I remember bits of it, but I was so far gone on that sedative, it's fuzzy."

"Basically, he used to know my mom, a long time ago, before she met my dad," Jonny said. "Dad confirmed she used to have a friend called Thomas Mansfield. But Dad said if Mansfield had any romantic interest in my mom, she either didn't know about it, or didn't think it was important enough to mention to him."

"So, he had an obsession with Aunt Rachel?" Maggie asked. Jonny nodded.

"In his mind, my dad was responsible for my mom's death," Jonny continued. "Mansfield's plan was to kill Hadji so Dad would feel the same kind of loss he did at my mom's death, which is delusional, because my Dad was devastated when my mom was killed." Jessie set her hand over his, giving it a reassuring squeeze before letting go. He gave her a quick, appreciative smile in return. "Mansfield kept calling me Zachary," Jonny told them. "Said that should have been my name because I should have been his. He said he had things that would help me 'acclimate' to my new name." He couldn't stop a shudder. It was creepier than Rage mistaking Jessie for his daughter, Carla. Jessie's hand was back on his, and this time she didn't let go.

"That's messed up," Blain said.

"Yeah, it is," Jonny said, taking a deep breath and letting it out slowly.

"It's really late," Maggie said, looking at the clock. "We have to check out tomorrow morning. We should get some sleep." There were nods all around.

"Are we meeting up for breakfast?" Blain asked.

"Yeah," Maggie agreed. "Maybe at eight? We'll have to eat early if we want to hit the slopes one last time before we leave."

"It's a plan," Scott said, getting up from the chair to give both Maggie and Jessie a hug goodnight. Blain and Ryan followed suit, then followed him out.

"Are you really okay?" Jessie asked Jonny once they were gone.

"My head will be fine," Jonny said with a shrug.

"That's not what I meant," Jessie said with a frown.

"Dr. Mansfield wanted to abduct you," Hadji said, "and it appears he had some very disturbing plans for you."

"Yeah, that," Jonny said with a slight shiver. "I don't care if I sound like a baby, but I'll feel better once I see my dad."

"Not at all," Maggie said, giving him a hug. "Dr. Mansfield is a very sick man. The things he said to you, they were enough to freak out anyone." After that, they said their goodnights and headed to bed.

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…...

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After breakfast, everyone went skiing one last time before they were due to depart. The atmosphere among them was blissfully relaxed now that they didn't need to stay together in a pack. Jessie and the guys took the more advanced runs with relish. Maggie stuck to the LS runs, others accompanying her from time to time for the company, with nothing more to worry about than improving her novice skills. Around mid-morning, Maggie decided to take a break and found some hot cocoa to sip at the lodge's little outdoor concession. Scott found her there at a little table.

"Can we talk?" he asked, taking a seat opposite her.

"Sure," she said, curious.

"I've been doing a lot of thinking," Scott said, "and since we're friends, and considering some of the stuff we've talked about this weekend, I want to give you some advice, which you're free to ignore if you want."

"Well, that wasn't what I was expecting you to say, that's for sure," Maggie said warily. "Do I want to hear this?"

"Maybe. Maybe not," Scott said uncertainly. "But we're friends, remember? That means I can say something and you won't hold it against me if you don't like it, and vice versa. As long as the intentions are good. Believe me, they are."

"May as well say it, then," Maggie said, nervously playing with her hot cocoa mug. Scott nodded, then swallowed hard. It was possible he was about to make the biggest mistake of his life, but he had to or he would always wonder.

"So, this other guy," he began. Maggie's gaze dropped to her cocoa. Scott had expected that. This wasn't a topic she liked discussing, but she needed to. "Maggie, look at me," Scott implored. Maggie slowly met his gaze. "I only know what you've told me and what I've seen from your side of things, and what that tells me is you're unhappy and you have been for a while. Do you really want to move past it?" Scott asked.

"_Yes_," Maggie said emphatically.

"Alright. Then here's my advice," Scott said, not without a little trepidation. "Talk to him. Tell him how you feel. Get it out in the open and then go on from there." As a friend, it was sound advice, Scott knew. But he wanted more than a friendship with her. If she followed his advice, there was the chance the other guy might wake up and realize what a great girl he had right in front of him, and Scott would have succeeded in pushing her right into the arms of someone else.

"No," she said, shaking her head, surprising him. "If he felt anything for me…" she shook her head again. "No."

"I said you could ignore my advice if you wanted," Scott reminded, "but I want you to at least think about it. You might get some closure, at the very least." Scott could lose her. He knew he could. But he would rather risk that than risk being the one Maggie settled for, the one that was second best. Scott wanted her to choose him because he was the one she wanted. She couldn't do that if she was forever hung up on what could have been with someone else.

"I don't think there's anything to think about," Maggie said. "He had his opportunity, and he didn't choose me."

"Then that's that," Scott said, sensing he'd said enough and she was done. "How about you finish that cocoa and we head for the chair lift? We should have enough time to take the LS run a few more times before we have to head in and pack up."

"That sounds good," Maggie said slowly, shaking off that very personal conversation. "Want to help me finish my cocoa?"

"Sure," Scott said, taking the cup. They shared the last half, then headed for the ski lift together.

.

…...

.

Jessie came down off the upper runs and headed for the chair lift, looking for any sign of her friends. She just caught sight of Maggie and Scott as they were scooped up into a chair and started up the mountain. Even if she hurried to catch a ride, they'd be off down a run before she got to the top. Luck was with her, though, because she heard a familiar voice calling her name from somewhere behind her.

"Ryan!" she greeted as he slid to a stop beside her. "I was hoping I'd run into someone. Want to ride up together?"

"Sure," Ryan agreed as they headed for the lift. "I figured that's where you were headed." They waited their turn at the lift, and were soon on their way. "Which run were you thinking?" Ryan asked.

"Something challenging," Jessie said. Ryan laughed.

"I figured," he said. "How about we make it more interesting."

"Like how?" Jessie was curious.

"A race," Ryan proposed.

"The stakes?" Jessie queried.

"Aside from bragging rights?" Ryan asked, making her laugh.

"Yeah, aside from that," she agreed.

"Well, we're headed home in less than two hours, and there's no telling when we'll get together again. So, how about a future claim?" Ryan said.

"Future claim?" Jessie was intrigued. "How does that work?"

"Next time we see each other, the winner gets something from the loser," Ryan said. "It's kind of an interesting bet, because you have no idea what the winner will decide they want. It could be anything. Last time I made a future claim bet with Scott, he won. He made me sing karaoke- which I hate- to _Man! I Feel Like a Woman_ by Shania Twain because he thought it would be funny. It was." Jessie burst into laughter.

"I'm never betting a future claim with Jonny. Ever," she declared. "But I think it's an interesting idea, so you're on." Ryan grinned.

"Deal," he said.

.

…...

.

Jonny, Jessie, Hadji, and Maggie returned to the suite just in time to pack up before they had to depart. Check-out was at noon, and they had promised Race and Dr. Quest that they'd head home right after. The packing was done efficiently, and they were soon hauling their gear down to the lobby.

Blain, Ryan, and Scott were already down there. When everyone was checked out, it was time for good-byes. Maggie and Jessie gave the guys from the Montana trip a round of hugs. Jonny and Hadji exchanged handshakes and farewells with them.

"It's always exciting when we get together," Blain said with a grin.

"Maybe a little too exciting," Ryan agreed wearily. "Next time can we scratch 'life-threatening danger' off the activities list?" Jessie and Maggie smiled, giving the guys an extra hug.

"Thanks for all your help," Jonny said.

"You didn't have to put yourselves in danger," Maggie said, "but I'm glad you were there for us."

"Any time," Scott said, giving her a grin.

"It has been a real pleasure," Hadji said sincerely, "but I believe it is time to go."

"Yeah, it is," Scott agreed, giving first Jessie, then Maggie a kiss on the cheek. "We've got to figure out something for this summer. Promise."

"We promise," Jessie returned as Jonny and Hadji headed outside to start loading up the Quest van. Maggie gave the guys a final wave, then picked up her bags and followed them out. "One last thing," Jessie said, picking up her own bags before turning to Ryan. "Do you have any idea what you're going to want for that future claim you won?"

"Actually, yeah. I do," he said, slowly smiling. "I was thinking… a date."

"Okay," she said, her cheeks turning pink. "A date it is."

"Way to go, Ryan," Blain chortled, slapping his cousin on the back. Then he winked at Jessie. "Between you and me, he's a catch. He's got beauty and brains. But he's the lucky one. You outshine him on both counts." She couldn't help but laugh as it was Ryan's turn to blush.

"I'm gonna miss you guys," Jessie said with a final smile directed at Ryan. "See you all soon!" She walked through the lodge doors to add her bags to the carefully stacked pile in the back of the Quest van.

"Ready to go?" Jonny asked after closing the back of the van.

"Yeah, let's go home," Jessie said. They all gave a final wave to the guys watching from the windows as they climbed in, and the guys waved back.

.

…...

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To be continued in installment #7.

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End file.
